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THE NATION AT WAR 
JAMES A.B.SGHERER 



A WAR BOOK 

"COTTON AS A WORLD POWER; 

A Study in the Economic Interpretation 

OF History" 

By James A. B. Scherer 

An expansion of Dr. Scherer's lectures at Oxford 
and Cambridge Universities on "Economic 
Causes in the American Civil War," which Dr. 
Holland Rose said should compel a re-writing of 
American history. This book not only treats of the 
fascinating r61e of "ICing Cotton" in the present 
War, but makes out a powerful case for the domi- 
nance of economic motives in almost all wars, and 
closes with a lucid philosophy of peace. 

opinions: 

"The romance of commerce and its part in determining 
history was never more forcibly presented." — Boston 
Globe. 

"The most interesting, complete history of cotton ever 
written. " — Wall Street Journal. 

"No economist nor business man can afford to miss the 
illumination of this remarkable book, while Dr. Scherer's 
light touch and easy style will carry even the casual reader 
deep into a volume which typifies that new history which 
digs deep beneath the apparent fact to find the underlying 
cause of things." — Broadus Mitchell in Baltimore Sun. 

"Opens with the fascination of romance and closes with 
the philosophy of statesmanship. . . . One seldom 
finds anywhere in one work such a comprehensive range of 
historic interest as this volume affords." — Literary 
Digest. 



THE NATION 
AT WAR 



BY 

JAMES A. B. SCHERER 

POR ONE YEAR CHIEF FIELD AGENT OF THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL 

DEFENSE, STATE COUNCILS SECTION; PRESIDENT OF THROOP 

COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA; AUTHOR 

OF "cotton AS A WORLD POWER, A STUDY IN THE 

ECONOMIC INTERPRETATION OF mSTORY," 

"the JAPANESE CRISIS," ETC. 




NEW ^^SJr YORK 
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 



'4^ 



Copyright, 1918, 
By George H. Doran Company 



SEP 



Printed in the United States of America 



TO 

Gr. K. rl* 

IN SCIENCE— ILLUSTRIOUS AND CONSUMMATE; 
IN FRIENDSHIP— NOBLE AND SINCERE.* 



'Adapted ixatn Browning. 



PREFACE 

The Council of National Defense is not responsible 
for this book, let me say in acknowledging the invalu- 
able assistance derived from the use of its files and 
from suggestions furnished by its members. "The 
Nation at War" is the record of a personal experience, 
and should be accepted as such. 

The book is not a history of State Councils, and 
far less does it pretend to be an account of all Ameri- 
can war work. The treatment of the States is indeed 
deliberately uneven, certainly not from partiality or 
prejudice, but simply because, within the limits of a 
single handy volume, I have tried to give the casual 
reader some general idea of what the State Councils 
are doing as a whole. This I have thought could be 
more effectively done by ^'picking out the high lights" 
here and there rather than by covering my canvas 
with a flat uniformity of detail. Quite frankly, too, 
I have occasionally dwelt with emphasis on the less 
known parts of the country, and on parts that are 
misunderstood. 

It has been the most interesting year of my life, 
and I hope I can impart to the reader some notion of 
the thrilling story of the States as this has unrolled 

vii 



viii PREFACE 

itself before my own fortunate eyes in more than a 
hundred thousand miles of national travel. 

James A. B. Scherer. 
Washington^ D. C, 
August 12, ipi8. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I ''the confession of a de-hyphenated 

AMERICAN" 13 

II AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR 19 

III AN AMERICAN WAR 3° 

IV WASHINGTON AND THE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE . 44 

V "DOWN south": the carolinas .... 58 

VI "down south": the farther dixie . . 76 

vii "up north": new England 87 

vin " out west " : Nebraska, Colorado, new Mex- 
ico, CALIFORNIA, NEVADA I07 

IX " OUT WEST " : UTAH, IDAHO, OREGON, WASHING- 
TON, MONTANA 122 

X ZIGZAG JOURNEYS ^S^ 

XI THE RESEARCH COUNCIL AND THE SHIPPING 

BOARD ^^^ 

XII PERSONALITIES ^^3 

XIII PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST . . - 189 

XIV AMERICA TO-MORROW 205 

APPENDIXES: 

A. THE author's RESIGNATION, ETC. . . .225 

B. A BRIEF ECONOMIC ARGUMENT AGAINST AN 

INCONCLUSIVE PEACE 239 

C. WHAT THE SIERRA MADRE CLUB THINKS OF 

"the LOS ANGELES EXAMINER" . . .243 

D. A LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT . . 250 

INDEX ^75 

ix 



THE NATION AT WAR 



THE 

NATION AT WAR 



CHAPTER I 



''the confession of a de-hyphenated american^^ 



GERMANY — a name to conjure with ! Ever since 
I can remember, its traditions, historical, educational,^*/ 
and religious, have been reverentially instilled into my 
mind. My paternal ancestors came to North Carolina 
from the Palatinate about a century and a half ago, 
and from that day to this have furnished an un- 
broken line of Evangelical Lutheran ministers. Some 
of them fought in our Revolutionary War, and not as 
Hessians for that Hanoverian King, George HI., but 
as Americans under the leadership of Washington — 
following the illustrious example of the Rev. J. P. G. 
Muhlenberg, who, at the close of a patriotic sermon in 
the old Lutheran church at Woodstock, Virginia, in 
1775, dramatically flung aside his Lutheran gown, so 
exposing the uniform of a Continental soldier, and 
then led his fellow-Lutherans into the war for Ameri- 
can independence.^ My family were "de-hyphe- 

* To a relation who complained that he had abandoned the 
Church for the State, Muhlenberg said: "I am a clergyman, 

13 



14 THE NATION AT WAR 

nated" more than a century ago. I have never been a 
"German-American;" I am an American of German 
descent. 

But it is almost impossible to exaggerate the inten- 
sity of the pro-German educational influences to which 
I and many others like me have been subjected. Above 
all, we were taught to admire the German Reforma- 
tion, and everything that came of it, including the 
State Church of modern Germany. Whenever, as 
sometimes seemed to some of us, the fruits of the 
German Reformation in this country did not wholly 
justify the all-inclusive claims set up by dogmatic 
teachers for the ancient tree, we were told that for 
Teutonic institutions to be properly appreciated they 
must be observed growing on their own native soil; 
that the modern Vaterland, in other words, was a liv- 

it is true, but I am a member of society as well as the poorest 
layman, and my liberty is as dear to me as to any man." 
Muhlenberg at once marched with his army to the relief' of 
Charleston, S. C, and his "German regiment," the 8th Vir- 
ginia, gained a reputation for discipline and bravery. Made a 
brigadier-general in 1777, he became major-general before Wash- 
ington's victorious army disbanded. He had been in 1774 chair- 
man of the Committee of Safety of his county, a member of 
the House of Burgesses, and in 1776 was delegate to the State 
Convention. On returning from war to civil pursuits (in 
Pennsylvania) he was at once elected member of the Penn- 
sylvania Council, was in 1785 chosen Vice-President of that 
State, with Benjamin Franklin as President, and served as 
presidential elector in 1797. Elected to the 1st, 2d, and 3d 
Congresses, he was in 1801 chosen to the U. S. Senate (as a 
Democrat), but resigned before Congress met, having been 
appointed by President Jefferson Supervisor of the Revenue 
from the District of Pennsylvania. 



THE DE-HYPHENATED AMERICAN 16 

ing witness to the spiritual power and pre-eminent 
ethical superiority of German Protestantism. 

This we accepted on faith. Any one curious to see 
the personal reaction liable to be produced by this kind 
of education may find it in my first book, "Four 
Princes, or, The Growth of a Kingdom" (1903), writ- 
ten on the basis of other books and of reverently re- 
ceived hearsay, and culminating in a treatment of Ger- 
man Protestantism as a shining example of "the full 
corn in the ear." 

In 1907 I made my first visit to Germany. The */ 
result was a violent disillusionment. I went intent 
upon further studies of German Protestantism, and I 
came back resolved never again to open my mouth 
in glorification of the pre-eminent spiritual and ethical 
power of modem Germany. In my opinion, it is 
wholly unfair to measure the world-wide movement 
set up by the Lutheran Reformation, as I had been 
told by dogmatic partisans to do, by contemporary 
Germany — clutched in the grip of a Prussianism 
which, so far as my own eyes can see, gives not a fig 
for Luther's faith or for vital Christianity of any 
kind. Subsequent visits only confirmed the impres- 
sion of the first one. Efficiency I found to an im- 
pressive and depressing degree; it did not take long 
to find out that Kultur is a very different product 
from culture. Prussianism I came up against, as 
against a solid brass wall, everywhere; but Lutheran- 
ism, as a spiritual power, had to be looked for. The 
Prussian Church has been dominated by the State; 
too often it has been the mere tool of state-craft. 



16 THE NATION AT WAR 

Far from being the obvious fountain-head of dom- 
inant Teutonic conduct, as I had been taught to be- 
lieve, German Lutheranism seems confined, as a vital 
religious power, to fruitful obscurity. I am aware 
that some of my best friends profess a different ex- 
perience; I can only recount my own. In fact, the 
Germany I had been taught to believe in seems, in 
a word, to have undergone a complete metamorphosis ; 
the Germany of Luther and Goethe and Beethoven, 
big and warm and tender and free, has been shaped 
by the iron hand of the HohenzoUerns into a mar- 
vellous but soulless machine, tended by a comfortable 
people going blind. That is the dominant impression 
Germany produced on me, utterly to my surprise, in 
the year 1907; and the pride I take in my German an- 
cestors, who came to this country a hundred and fifty 
years ago, is scarcely diminished by the fact that they 
came from old Germany rather than new. 

It is not easy, however, to throw off wholly the 
shell of a shattered tradition, and it is almost impos- 
sible to escape from the deep reverences and sym- 
pathies ingrained by prolonged education in one un- 
deviating direction. I was in Europe in the summer 
of 19 1 4. Returning just before the War broke out, 
fresh from the liberalising influences of European con- 
tact, which every traveller knows how to appreciate, 
and startled by the apparent rashness of the outbreak, 
I shut myself in my study for a fortnight and tried, 
for the sake of old blood and old ties, but above all 
for the sake of fair play and justice, to get the mod- 



THE DE-HYPHENATED AMERICAN IT 

ern German point of view regarding this War. Not 
only did I read the White Paper when it appeared, but 
also, again, the history of modern Germany, the life 
of Bismarck, the speeches of the present Emperor, and 
the works — in part at least — of Bernhardi and 
Treitschke. 

As for the German White Paper, no one, however 
sympathetic, could read it carefully without wonder- 
ing over the cool suppression of fundamental parts of 
Serbia's amazingly acquiescent reply to the severe ul- 
timatum of Austria, which reply is really the hinge 
in which turns the whole heavy responsibility for this 
War. The further I read into German books, seeking 
the German point of view, the more was I led by 
these writings themselves away from all possibility of 
sympathy to a conviction which has gradually become 
most profound, that the German Government, with its 
highly efficient Kultur, has, in deliberately willing this 
wholly unnecessary War, with its much boasted 
"frightfulness,** reverted to a barbarism infinitely 
more revolting than that of the pre-Christian epoch. 
With a cynicism that strikes the heart cold, this Prus- 
sic Germania tears the sacred law of contract, on 
which all civilisation is founded, into scraps of paper, 
massacres Belgium, stealthily murders American 
women and children on the high seas, and outrages 
the decencies of international hospitality by convert- 
ing embassies into nests of intrigue and dishonour. 
This is only the ABC of the Hohenzollem alphabet of 
crime! 



18 THE NATION AT WAR 

I had been a pacifist of the Norman Angell School. 
Because I believe in evolution, I still believe the time 
will come when an international tribunal will super- 
sede national wars, just as wars among nations have 
superseded successively those of religions, of tribes, 
and of families. But since the spring of 19 16, I have 
postponed my pacifism indefinitely, and devoted such 
strength as I have to the cause of civilisation against 
Germany. 



CHAPTER II 

AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR 

ALTHOUGH convinced of Germany's guilt in the 
summer of 19 14, I did not speak out until the spring 
of 1916, when, incensed by a German- American news- 
paper, I wrote and published the substance of the pre- 
ceding chapter.^ Because of my German name, this 
hyphenated New York newspaper had had the ef- 
frontery to rebuke me for permitting a speech on 
American preparedness to be made by James R. Gar- 
field at the College of which I am President away 
out in Pasadena, California I 

Those were strange days. It is difficult now to 
realise the extent to which we were bullied and muz- 
zled by the hyphenated press propaganda, which at 
length so over-reached itself that the German Emperor 
himself issued a public warning to "his people" here 
in America to be more discreet and less noisy. For 
my part, I was ''boiled in oil'* in the German-Amer- 
ican press, and ''drawn and quartered" — that is what 
they actually said should be done to this "renegade" 

' In the New York Times, April 20, 1916. Reprinted (in large 
part) by the Literary Digest. Widely circulated as a tract by 
the American Rights Committee, New York City, and other 
similar agencies. 

19 



20 THE NATION AT WAR 

who had "turned his back on his people even as cer- 
tain base scoundrels, in American pioneer days, for- 
sook their white kinsmen to consort with blood- 
thirsty savages!'* 

On the other hand, I received from many Amer- 
icans of German ancestry letters commending my 
stand, most of them, however, adding that considera- 
tions of a business or social character must prevent 
the publication of names. Some of these letters I 
published (without naming the writers) in the New 
York Times of May ii, 1916.^ Here is one, from a 
beloved teacher of my youth, an honoured professor 
in a Lutheran college, a man of pure German descent, 
and of intimate acquaintance with Germany: 

"My own conviction," he wrote — "one that grows 
stronger every day — is that the military oligarchy of 
Germany has been actuated by a purely bandit spirit, 
and that the future peace of the world depends on 
the crushing of this dominant power in that country. 
Furthermore, I am growing very tired of German 
plotting and agitation in this country. The German 
press is treasonable; and were the editors to suffer 
the fate that would meet them in Germany I should 
not shed a tear." 

The very day I wrote my "confession," and quite by 
coincidence, there came a communication from one of 
the most prominent Lutheran laymen in America in 
which he complained that certain Lutheran periodicals 
were "so strongly pro-German, and so strongly in- 
clined to be anti-American, that we have come to the 

'See also the Literary Digest, May 27, 1916, pp. 1537-1538. 



AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR 21 

pass at which non-Lutheran readers of such journals 
put Lutherans down as antagonistic to their own Gov- 
ernment." One of my chief reasons in writing my 
own brief ''confession" was the desire to efface as 
much as I could of the treasonable stigma that had 
been affixed on Americans having German names by 
the noisy effrontery of a few bigots, and long tolerated 
by a silent forbearance that at length ceased to be 
virtuous. It was an interesting coincidence, at least, 
that every attack on my position that came to my 
notice contained also an attack either on the national 
Administration for its failure to surrender wholly to 
Prussia, or on American institutions as a whole ; while 
the essence of my own offense was expressed in the 
copious use of such epithets as "renegade" and 
"traitor," the c in my name outweighing, in the minds 
of these hyphenates, a hundred and fifty years of un- 
broken American lineage ! 

Among the commendations of my "confession" was 
the following letter from a prominent Lutheran clergy- 
man: 

"I can not forbear taking time, in Holy Week 
though it be, for thanking you for your very fine letter 
in this morning's New York Times. I have myself 
been deterred from attempting just such a statement 
solely because I did not wish to give offense to my 
friends and parishioners. It is a wholly admirable 
statement and tells the story for many of us who have 
been in grave danger of confusing religion with mod- 
ern Germanism. One sees now where our extreme 
apologetics brought us and how near we have come to 
being wrecked on the rocks of Teutonism rather than 



«2 THE NATION AT WAR 

borne along on the great deep currents of an Evan- 
gelical faith which is not confined anywhere, least of 
all by the wretchedly narrow limits of one very con- 
stricted people. ... I feel very keenly a certain hu- 
miliation at having been submissive to the roaring bull- 
dozing of the pro-German defenders of our Church, 
who have so long held the whip over us and made us 
believe in their little type of self-conscious religion. 
So easily may we be fettered when we forget what is 
*the eternal price of liberty,' national or religious.'' 

The Lutheran Church has now officially purged it- 
self from the Prussian blot with which it was stig- 
matised by a few of its followers. The great *'Gen- 
eral Council," at its meeting in Philadelphia (on Oc- 
tober 24, 1917) unanimously adopted the following 
clear declaration, to be emulated by other general 
bodies : 

We, the Members of the General Council of the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church, in convention assembled 
in this notable year of the Quadri-Centennial of the 
Reformation, representing over 800,000 communicant 
members, conscious of our sacred duty before 
Almighty God in these trying times, and deeply moved 
by the great and serious task which they have imposed 
upon our Government; and mindful of the heroic 
deeds and noble sacrifices of our forefathers at every 
crisis in the history of our beloved country, do hereby 
present the following preamble and resolutions: 

Whereas, We are mindful of the good order and 
happiness flowing from attachment to the principles 
upon which our Government is founded, and sin- 
cerely hold and believe that it is the bounden duty of 
those in authority to provide for the enactment and 
enforcement of laws to the end that the rights, pre- 



AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR %S 

rogatives and obligations of American citizenship may 
be secured, maintained and met ; 

Whereas, The doctrinal basis of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, expressed in the principles of the 
Augsburg Confession, to which the ministry and mem- 
bers of the Church are solemnly obligated, commands 
loyalty to the Government of the United States: 

Therefore, be it resolved: — i. That we remember 
before God and record before man, our deep gratitude 
that the United States have rightly maintained liberty 
of conscience, freedom of worship and a separation 
of Church and State, which are precious heritages of 
the Reformation and under which our Church has 
enjoyed unbroken prosperity. 

2. That we pray Almighty God to grant us, the 
American people, together with our Allies, a complete 
and decisive victory over our enemies, in order that 
our ancient liberties may be preserved and deepened; 
and that justice, righteousness and that freedom, 
which is our sacred heritage, may be enjoyed by the 
nations of the earth. 

3. That we express to the President of the United 
States our Christian sympathy and loyal devotion, 
and beseech our Heavenly Father to sustain and 
strengthen him with all needed grace, and that we 
most earnestly pledge to him our support in the exer- 
cise of his constitutional authority as the Commander- 
in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, 
in his high and earnest purpose "to make the world 
safe for democracy.'^ 

4. That we express our earnest co-operation in all 
constructive efforts to bring this great war to a just 
issue, and that we encourage all our people to give 
their enthusiastic support to the efforts of our Govern- 
ment for the conservation and control of food sup- 
plies, to all Liberty Loans, to the work of the Red 



M THE NATION AT WAR 

Cross and to all agencies which promote the welfare 
of our soldiers and sailors. 

5. That we record with just pride the fact that so 
many of our young men have gone forth from our 
congregations at their country's call ; that we pray that 
they, and all the young men of our Army and Navy, 
be found courageous and chivalrous, strong and 
heroic, pure, temperate, manly and just; that we be- 
seech God to defend them in all danger and save them 
from temptation; that we urge all men cheerfully to 
respond to the call to arms and utterly condemn those 
who in any way falter or obstruct the carrying out 
of the laws of our land ; holding, as we do, that upon 
the declaration of a state of war every loyal man and 
woman becomes a trustee of his time and talents, life 
and fortunes for our country. 

6. That we unite in prayer to Almighty God to 
give us as a nation a due sense of His overruling 
providence, so that we may enjoy that security which 
can only be obtained by a unity of purpose and effort 
which will command and receive the respect of the 
whole world ; securing in the end victory to our arms, 
and the blessing of a speedy, honourable and lasting 
peace. 

7. That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted 
to His Excellency, the President of the United States, 
and to all Lutheran chaplains at their posts of service. 

Of almost equal importance, and certainly of equal 
interest, are the following resolutions, prepared by 
Dr. Theodore E. Schmauk, and adopted by the Penn- 
sylvania ''Ministerium" of the Lutheran Church, May 
21, 1918: 

Whereas, there appears to be an impression widely 
prevalent that the Lutheran Church in America is a 



AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR 25 

foreign Church, and that the members of this Minis- 
terium are newcomers in the State of Pennsylvania, 
we hereby lay down the following declaration of fact 
and principle: 

1. That the Lutheran Church is a world Church, 
and not the offshoot of any State Church in Germany. 
It was found in England, France and Italy four cen- 
turies ago. It is found in Norway, Sweden, Iceland, 
Finland, Russia, Australia, Canada, the United States, 
no less than in Germany. In no case has the Lutheran 
Church in the United States any connection with any 
Church in Germany, least of all with that of which 
the Kaiser is the head. The Kaiser himself is not a 
Lutheran, but he and his father and grandfather are 
of Reformed stock, and the Prussian Union, which 
they founded, is composed of Reformed and Lutheran 
elements. Up to 1907 this Prussian Imperial Church 
had no organic association even with the International 
Lutheran Conference, with which the General Council 
of the Lutheran Church in North America has had 
affiliation, so far as great meetings for representing 
a world Lutheranism was concerned. But since 1907, 
in which year the Imperial Prussian Church acquired 
some control of the International Conference, the 
General Council of the Lutheran Church in America, 
to which this Ministerium belongs, has been in an atti- 
tude of protest against the International Conference, 
and has stood for a re-organisation of this World 
Conference of Lutherans on American principles. 

2. The Ministerium of Pennsylvania is not an 
exotic Church in America. Fifty years before 
William Penn its very earliest membership was in- 
vited to settle in Pennsylvania. The Ministerium was 
organised and in full operation a quarter of a century 
before the American Revolution. Its leaders and its 
membership were all patriots in the colonial era, and 



«6 THE NATION AT WAR 

they have participated in a marked and effective de- 
gree in all the wars of our nation from the French 
and Indian and the Revolutionary War down. The 
original members of this venerable Ministerium took 
an illustrious part in the founding of our American 
nation, and at its birth many of them sealed their 
loyalty with their life-blood on the battlefields of the 
Revolution. To-day this Ministerium stands squarely 
with its President in his actions and utterances. It 
not only supports the Government of the United States 
in the present war, but it stands for and believes itself 
to be an exponent of those free principles of govern- 
ment to secure which, throughout the world, the 
present world war is being fought. This Ministerium 
believes that the principles for which Martin Luther 
stood out against the Church and the Imperial State 
in his day, in behalf of the conscience and liberties of 
the people, are the principles for which the United 
States is contending at this moment; and it here and 
now pledges itself anew, even to its last drop of blood, 
in its attempt to make sure that a government of the 
people, for the people, and by the people, shall not 
perish from the earth; and that in religion every in- 
dividual shall have the right to worship God in ac- 
cordance with the dictates of his own conscience; and 
we believe that our words and acts will ever testify to 
our Synodical loyalty to American ideals and Ameri- 
can institutions. 

My belief, as expressed in May, 19 16, has been ful- 
filled : ''that in the event of war between this country 
and Germany, fully ninety per cent of American citi- 
zens with German names would be loyal to their 
citizenship, but that the remaining tithe, who do most 
of the talking and writing, would constitute a very 
grave menace." 



AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR 27 

The "ninety per cent" of us were long restrained 
from utterance — not by any vestige of sympathy with 
Prussia, indeed, but by the solemn injunction of our 
President. 

President Wilson's first acts on taking office in 1913 
had won from me a very high regard. Besides the 
respect due to his office, I felt for him — on account 
of his attitude on the Panama Tolls question pre- 
eminently, but also because of such Acts as the re- 
vision of the tariff and the reform of our banking 
and currency system — a personal regard so profound 
that in spite of my own deep convictions concerning 
the War, I did my best to obey his neutrality procla- 
mation of August 19, 1914, when he said: 

*T venture, my fellow countrymen, to speak a sol- 
emn word of warning to you against that deepest, most 
subtle, most essential breach of neutrality which may 
spring out of partisanship, out of passionately taking 
sides. The United States must be neutral in fact as 
well as in name during these days that are to try 
men's souls. We must be impartial in thought as 
well as in action, must put a curb upon our senti- 
ments as well as upon every transaction that might 
be construed as a preference of one party to the strug- 
gle before another."^ 

Obedience to this last injunction was impossible; I 
could not be neutral in thought. But from August, 
1914, until April, 1916 — in spite of the Lusitania 
crime of May, 191 5 — I obeyed the President's other 

* President Wilson's State Papers and Addresses: New York, 
1918; p. 219. 



28 THE NATION AT WAR 

requests scrupulously. Then I gave way. The ver- 
bal safety-valve of my ''confession," however, was as 
nothing compared with the satisfaction I got in at- 
tending the Monterey Training Camp — our Califor- 
nia Plattsburg — in the summer of 191 6. But there is 
no use trying to express it: the emotions that thou- 
sands of Americans suffered, until we finally entered 
the War in April, 191 7, can never be set down on 
paper. When my only boy — not yet twenty years 
old — decided for himself in March, 19 17, that he must 
leave for the battle front, and left, I remember that 
my first act was to answer a long-unanswered letter 
from my best friend in England, the aged Sir William 
Mather, and to begin it by telling him that now at last 
I could once more look an English gentleman in the 
face without blushing. When the news had reached 
us in California on the morning of February 3, 191 7, 
that the President had announced the severance of 
diplomatic relations with Germany, I remember weep- 
ing with a sense of relief from deep shame. And I 
shall never forget that April night in San Francisco 
when the great War Message came over the wires! 
Then again did we glory in our President : the most pa- 
tient man in human history, not excepting the patri- 
arch Job; and now we looked to see the traditional 
anger of the patient man when fully roused, and our 
hearts burned within us as Americans! 

Now at last one could speak out, his country sanc- 
tioning. At Throop College we "speeded up" com- 
mencement by a month, so as to turn the campus into a 
training camp. In that bright May of renewed na- 



AMERICA ENTERS THE WAR 29 

tional splendour I spoke to our boys of "Our Prob- 
lem." And because this book is nothing unless a 
"human document" — the story of an American life in 
relation to the Great War — I will set down some of 
the things I then said to them. I have another reason, 
too, for reprinting some of those words. This book 
is called, "The Nation at War." The Hearst papers 
used to be fond of saying (until the Sedition Act of 
May 1 6, 19 18, muzzled them)^ that this is not Amer- 
ica's war, but Europe's war. I tried to show my boys 
in 191 7 that this is America's war, just as truly as 
the Revolution itself was. Perhaps such a chapter is 
necessary to a book on America at War. 

It is impossible to write such a book at the present 
time without getting more or less into politics. Per- 
haps I may be permitted to say once for all that I have 
always been an Independent in politics. I owe al- 
legiance to no party, but judge it by its platform, and 
especially by the personality of its chosen leader. But 
personal partisanship is in my judgment quite as mis- 
chievous as party partisanship. On this point Lin- 
coln gave us good advice when he said : "Stand with 
anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he 
is right and part with him when he goes wrong. In 
both cases you are right. To desert such groimd is to 
be less than a man, less than an American," 

*See Appendix A, final article. 



CHAPTER III 



AN AMERICAN WAR 



FORTUNATELY, it is now ancient history— I 
said to my college boys at their commencement in 
1 91 7, — but America has been involved in intellectual 
strife during the last few months. Controversies 
breed epithets ; and so we have heard one hostile camp 
denouncing the other as militarist, while they, in turn, 
have been branded as pacifists. Speaking more broad- 
ly and less offensively it would he fair to say that 
one of these groups has emphasised in these perilous 
times the need of efficiency, while the other has clung 
to its faith in idealism. It takes no prophet to discern 
that the great problem for the future of America is 
involved in the question whether these conflicting 
forces can be reconciled, and national efhciency be 
combined with democratic ideals. 

That Americans are capable of high efficiency is 
known to all men. We demonstrate it in our capacity 
for business and industrial organisation. I shall 
never forget the celebration of the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of the "Boston Tech." To take part in it I did 
not go to Boston, I simply rode down to Los Angeles. 
Allowance having been made for the difference in 
time, the Tech alumni in Los Angeles sat down at 

30 



AN AMERICAN WAR 31 

exactly the same moment as the alumni in Boston, 
and banqueted. A little rubber disk lay beside each 
plate, while in front of the toastmaster stood a tele- 
phone transmitter. At the close of the banquet we 
placed the tiny receivers to our ears, and heard the 
Boston speeches and the toasts, and the "rah, rah, 
rah!" of the Boston alumni. Nor was that all. 

A score or so of cities were linked by wire with 
Boston just as we were; and we could hear New Or- 
leans singing "Dixie," while New York sang "Yankee 
Doodle" and Washington thrilled all our hearts with 
the strains of "The Star Spangled Banner." San 
Francisco and Los Angeles and the two Portlands; 
Chicago and St. Louis; the Gulf of Mexico and Puget 
Sound; — the hearts and voices of a thousand men all 
over this broad continent were linked by magic spokes 
to the Boston "hub" through the genius of American 
efficiency. 

We learned, moreover, that when the morning' 
hour of three should strike, all this vast network of 
wires would be placed in the hands of the Govern- 
ment, and then deep would call unto deep, most lit- 
erally, across a thousand leagues of mountain and 
valley and desert. For the ships in the Atlantic then 
shout through the air to the great wireless stations 
on shore ; the American telephone system catches their 
cry, and flashes it here to the Pacific; whence once 
more the sound waves roll off through the air to our 
vessels out in the ocean, and the two seas are blended 
into one at the touch of American skill. 

This is one instance out of a thousand that might 



82 THE NATION AT WAR 

be cited of our demonstrated capacity for efficiency 
as applied to the organisation of business; but when 
we consider national affairs — alas, that is another 
story ! 

Take the conservation of our natural resources, and 
the story is nothing short of lamentable. Forest fires, 
which could be stopped at an expense of one-fifth the 
value of the merchantable timber burned, cost us 
$50,000,000 a year, to say nothing of the fact that our 
lumbering is so unintelligent that of each thousand 
feet we cut, 680 are wasted. Damage from floods is 
preventable, and yet since 1900 the direct yearly in- 
jury from them has increased steadily from $45,- 
000,000 to over $238,000,000. We utilise $62,000,000 
worth of natural gas every year, the most perfect fuel 
known, and permit an equal amount to escape into the 
air; and our supply of petroleum cannot be expected to 
last beyond the middle of the century. Our spend- 
thrift agriculture is indicated by the fact that our 
average yield of wheat has until recently been only 
fourteen bushels an acre, as against twenty-eight bush- 
els in Germany and thirty-two bushels in England. 

It is the same with our personal vitality. There 
are constantly about 3,000,000 people seriously ill in 
the United States; but more than half of this ill- 
ness is easily preventable, and if we only used our 
knowledge we could at once add fifteen years to the 
average length of American life — yet the president of 
a life insurance company told me the other day that 
whereas in the year I was bom a man of my present 
age had an expectation of twenty-one years of life, 



AN AMERICAN WAR SS 

to-day he has but twenty, showing that in spite of our 
increase in knowledge we are actually making prog- 
ress backwards. There are 85,000 young men in our 
colleges and universities to-day, but I am told by an 
eminent physician that there are 87,000 young men in 
our lunatic and idiot asylums. There are 400,000 
feeble-minded children in our public schools, while 
between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of our school 
children are afflicted with serious physical defects. 
West Point rejects for physical deficiencies 30 per 
cent of its applicants for admission, while Annapolis 
is able to admit only 30 per cent of such applicants; 
and only one out of five recruits is able to get into 
the army.^ If "national service" should accomplish 
nothing else it will be of great value to our people by 
imposing a check on our threatened physical degen- 
eracy. 

But we ought to introduce efficient and economic 
management into our army. We have been spending 
enough on a standing army of fifty thousand men to 
support, according to the more intelligent methods 
used by Japan, an army of a million men on a peace 
footing; or to enable Europe to maintain an efficient 
army half that large, together with reserves of regu- 
lars varying from two million to five million men, 
whereas we have had no reserves of regulars what- 
soever. We have been scarcely more efficient in army 
management than in "conservation." As to the navy, 
Admiral Fletcher recently testified that a foe could 
land at any time on almost any foot of our two 

*This was under the old conditions, on a peace footing. 



34. THE NATION AT WAR 

thousand miles of coast line for anything the navy 
could do to prevent it! 

The people of the country are going to find out 
within the next few months (this was in May, 19 17) 
that conditions have not been exaggerated regarding 
our army and navy, but that it would be almost im- 
possible to exaggerate the inefficiency that obtains 
in numerous vital particulars. They are going to find 
out that a Government training school is conducted at 
which forty or fifty of the flower of our youth arrive 
every day without the necessary clothing being pro- 
vided for them, and where three hundred of them are 
huddled into a single room with only one wash basin 
for the lot, and the nearest bath a quarter of a mile 
away. The men who are coming to Camp Throop are 
coming because the bounty of a few individuals makes 
'this camp possible, and where we are lucky to get from 
(the Government any equipment at all. Those who 
go to the Presidio are going to find a splendid group 
of officers endeavouring to stretch a yard of supply 
to cover a mile of need, and distributing pamphlets, 
to keep up the spirit of the men, showing that the 
British democracy had to put up with similar in- 
efficiency in 1914. Democracies to-day appear in 
sharp contrast with autocracies in the matter of ef- 
ficient national administration. Here in America we 
are notable for effective business organisation, but 
notorious for ineffectual Government administration. 

There is no question whatever that if democracy 
is to survive as a form of government it must con- 



AN AMERICAN WAR 35 

duct its affairs in a business-like manner — in a word, 
demonstrate its efficiency. 

One cause of our national inefficiency is found in 
our fondness for idealism. Foreign critics greatly err 
who characterise the Americans as lacking in this 
quality or tendency. As a matter of fact, we are a 
highly romantic and imaginative people. This is not 
to say, however, that our idealism is always sound; 
sometimes it is far from it. Lotus-eating has nothing 
to do with idealism; it is merely a euphemism for 
luxurious sloth. Rich Americans whose literary edu- 
cation expresses itself in the soft philosophy of Omar 
Khayyam — ''A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and 
thou," mintis the *'book of verse," — are not idealists 
in any true sense of the word, but may be more truth- 
fully described as parasitic degenerates fattening off 
a body politic of which they are wholly unworthy. 

Softness should not be confused with idealism, and 
neither should sentimentality. Let me show what I 
mean by an incident illustrated with a few verses. 
Some of us within the past few weeks have seen our 
boys stirring to the high call of duty, and have bidden 
them farewell and Godspeed as they enlisted under 
the banner of a militan*- democracy. For reward we 
have received from certain of our compatriots criti- 
cism amounting to denunciation; we have been called 
un-American, un-Christian, and even inhuman. But 
other voices have reached us besides these. Dean 
Healy, for example, of the University of Southern 
California, has sent me verses that I shall venture to 
read to you. They were called out by a poem that 



36 THE NATION AT WAR 

Edwin Markham wrote for a meeting of the "Inter- 
national Workers," in which these lines occur: 

O mothers, will you longer give your sons 
To feed the awful hunger of the guns? 
What is the worth of all these battle-drums 
If from the field the loved one never comes? 
What all these loud hosannas to the brave 
If all your share is some forgotten grave? 

To that question Dr. James L. Hughes, of Canada, 
wrote the following answer. Greater significance is 
given to his poetic answer, I may say, by the fact that 
his own son was killed in action some time ago and 
now lies buried in France. He entitles his reply to 
Markham, 'The Truly Unselfish Mother's Answer.*' 

God gave my son in trust to me. 
Christ died for him, and he should be 
A man for Christ. He is his own, 
And God's and man's; not mine alone. 
He was not mine to "give." He gave 
Himself that he might help to save 
All that a Christian should revere. 
All that enlightened men hold dear. 

"To feed the guns"! Oh, torpid soul! 
Awake, and see life as a whole! 
When freedom, honour, justice, right. 
Were threatened by the despot's might, 
With heart aflame and soul alight 
He bravely went for God to fight 
Against base savages whose pride 
The laws of God and man defied; 
Who slew the mother and her child ; 
Who maidens pure and sweet defiled. 



AN AMERICAN WAR 37 

He did not go "to feed the guns,'* 
He went to save from ruthless Huns 
His home and country, and to be 
A guardian of democracy. 

"What if he does not come?'* you say; 

Ah, well! My sky would be more grey, 

But through the clouds the sun would shine> 

And vital memories be mine. 

God's test of manhood is, I know, 

Not, 'Will he comer but, "Dm he go?" 

So long as America clings to its idealism we need 
have no fear of militarism, which has never in all 
the history of the world been associated with any 
system of democracy. Democracy is essentially ideal- 
istic; its danger comes from a totally different direc- 
tion from that of militarism, and springs from slip- 
shodness, from lack of foresight and preparation, 
from the silly dictum that "everybody's business is no- 
body's business." The great problem of democracy 
is to combine efficiency with idealism if it is to sur- 
vive and see its ideals triumph in the world. 

By all means let us be faithful to our national ideals, 
but let us be sure that we know what those ideals 
really are. In times like this we need to refresh our 
spirit at the historic fountains from which our na- 
tional ideals arose. 

In 19 1 4 the steamship in which I crossed the At- 
lantic touched at Plymouth, where unexpected circum- 
stances compelled me to remain for a fortnight. Com- 
pact masses of old brown brick houses crowd in rows 
on the rolling hills, which suddenly plunge down a 



S8 THE NATION AT WAR 

steep declivity into the bay. The top of the hill near- 
est the sea is swept clear and smooth as a plaza; it is 
the famous "Hoe" where Drake was playing his game 
of bowls when the Spanish Armada was sighted, and 
where a heroic bronze statue of Drake gazes out over 
the waters, a religious inscription on the pedestal tell- 
ing the story as the Puritans saw it : "He blew with 
His winds and scattered them.'* Often I climbed to 
the Hoe, "the soft tread of history under my feet,'' 
never without a thrill; but the deep religious surge of 
emotion came when I clambered down through the 
crooked narrow streets to the "old town," and stood 
level with the waves on the dock, where a tablet marks 
the exact spot from which the MayUower sailed. 

By an effort of the imagination one calls back the 
scene of that sailing. So I could see at length in my 
mind's eye the frail little cooped-up shallop drawing 
away through the bay to the ocean; faces crowding 
each square port-hole, kerchiefs waving, as the sails 
caught the wind and the waves began tossing the 
cockle-shell out to sea; the very dock on which I was 
standing crowded with brave women striving to keep 
back the tears and smile a farewell to the loved faces 
that were now only a white blur against the black 
side of the diminishing ship. 

Seeking liberty, these pilgrims breasted the stormy 
waves, subdued the wilderness, struggled with blood- 
thirsty savages, and built up in rock-ribbed New Eng- 
land a commonwealth which remains the most jealous 
and viligant watch-tower of American liberties to this 
day. 



AN AMERICAN WAR 39 

It was the liberty of the seas that made a pathway 
for our fathers to this continent, and that Uberty has 
always been precious to us. After our national free- 
dom was achieved, we depended for a living through- 
out a long period on oceanic trade to a degree now 
difficult to realise. The Napoleonic wars interfered 
with this trade. Bonaparte, notable for his tyranny, 
interfered with us seriously when he attempted a 
starvation blockade of England, strikingly similar to 
that which Germany undertook in this War. But 
notice particularly that even Napoleon, notoriously 
high-handed as he was, never dreamed of threatening 
with destruction American vessels entering the war 
zone, although he might easily have done so. He lim- 
ited his interference with neutral rights to the Berlin 
Decree, forbidding any ship that had touched at an 
English port admittance to a port of France or her 

allies. 

This was bitterly resented in America, though not 
so much as the retaliatory measure of England. To 
cripple Napoleon, England issued Orders in Council 
requiring all American ships trading at a European 
port from which British ships were excluded to call 
at British ports and pay a duty. This, together with 
interference with our shipping on the high seas, caused 
the War of 1812, fought with England, and won, 
squarely on the issue which is now raised again, in 
an infinitely aggravated manner, by Germany. 

So firmly did the War of 1812 establish in inter- 
national law this principle of maritime freedom that 
the United States, fifty years later, was forced to rec- 



40 THE NATION AT WAR 

ognise the principle in England's behalf at the cost of 
our national pride. You remember the Trent affair? 
The Confederacy was sending two mischief-makers to 
England, Slidell and Mason. England did not want 
them, but they travelled on an English steamboat, the 
Trent. A zealous Yankee skipper. Captain Wilkes, 
overtook and stopped the Trent, and removed these 
dangerous Confederate agents. The North went wild 
with delight. But England immediately loaded great 
quantities of cannon, muskets, and ammunition on 
shipboard for Canada, with thousands of soldiers, and 
sent an ultimatum to America, allowing but seven days 
for reply. Lincoln bravely released the prisoners and 
disavowed the act of Captain Wilkes, declaring that 
"we fought Great Britain for insisting by theory and 
practice on the right to do precisely what Captain 
Wilkes has done." 

It is interesting to note that the Count Bernstorff 
of that day, probably the father of the late German 
ambassador at Washington, wrote from Berlin : "Pub- 
lic opinion in Europe has with singular unanimity pro- 
nounced in the most positive manner for the injured 
party," England. 

More than a hundred years after the War of 1812, 
Germany proposed to do a thciisand-fold over the 
iniquity for which we fourht England and for which 
England was willing later on to fight us. Germany 
now establishes huge arbitrary sea zones, which, if 
respected, would blockade not only England, but in- 
nocent neutral nations, and deprive some of them of 
the means of life. She also audaciously says that if 



AN AMERICAN WAR 41 

our vessels so much as enter those zones she will de- 
stroy them just as if they were belligerent warships; 
and this after solemnly covenanting with us to respect 
our vessels in war zones, on pain of our positively de- 
clared intention to sever relations should she not do 
so. She proposes to wrest from international law its 
one most precious immunity, the freedom of the paths 
of the seas, and to enslave the ocean paths perma- 
nently, by this atrocious precedent, to the will of Mars. 
The pseudo-Napoleon of Germany out-herods Herod, 
and calmly announces a permanent Lusitania policy in 
international law — making crime not the exception, 
but the rule. Had our Government refused to act we 
should have been unworthy to survive; as the present 
Count Bernstorff has said: *'There was nothing else 
for the United States to do.'* 

Freedom of the paths of the seas was necessary to 
the settlement and establishment of this Nation; was 
requisite to our national existence; is bound up with 
the woof of our history to such an extent that the War 
of the Revolution itself was not more an American 
war than is this War. 

How wonderful, too, as our President has pointed 
out, that we find ourselves allied in a clear-cut strug- 
gle between democracy and absolutism. When that 
struggle is won, however, we must not for a moment 
think that our task is ended. To do our great work of 
reconstruction and rehabilitation in the enormous 
world-labour that lies before us, we shall be compelled 
to wed the trained mind and the skilled hand to the 
ennobled heart if the fruits of our victory are to be 



42 THE NATION AT WAR 

permanent and if civilisation is to triumph on the 
earth. ... So far, my 19 17 commencement address. 

Camp Throop collapsed. Three of our College sup- 
porters were putting $20,000 into it, with the ardent 
assistance of the Western Department of the Army, 
whose headquarters are at San Francisco. We 
thought, moreover, that we had the support of the 
War Department at Washington. The Camp was to 
be subsidiary and preparatory to that at the Presidio, 
and we enlisted over a thousand young men who could 
not get in up there, and who were to pay their own 
living expenses at Camp Throop in order to take pre- 
liminary training for the new national army. (It 
must be remembered that this was long before the 
Draft Act was passed, or even deemed possible.) 
We bought everything that money could buy, includ- 
ing tents, uniforms, and a commissary outfit for fif- 
teen hundred men, the City of Pasadena most gener- 
ously co-operating in putting in water, drainage, and 
lights. The only equipment that money could not buy 
comprised the two items of instructors and army rifles, 
although we discovered perfectly competent retired 
army officers that were eager to serve as instructors, 
and quantities of unused Krag-Jorgensen rifles at 
the Benicia arsenal and reported these to the Govern- 
ment with a respectful request for their use. Sud- 
denly and summarily, as in the case of similar college 
enterprises throughout the country, Washington abso- 
lutely refused all assistance, for reasons that were 
never explained. 



AN AMERICAN WAR 4S 

Camp Throop collapsed, but the College of course 
adopted other plans for war work. It was a keen 
satisfaction to learn from a recent bulletin of the 
United States Bureau of Education that no college 
in the country except the war and navy colleges them- 
selves have exceeded this California school in concen- 
trated devotion to war work.^ 

But when the summer vacation of 19 17 came (we 
had not yet adopted the all-the-year schedule for war 
work), what was / to do, without my Camp ? Being a 
bit past the age limit, alas! for acceptable service in 
the fighting line, I asked the same question of myself 
that many thousands such men were anxious about 
everywhere : How can I "get into the game" and be 
of some real service in the War? Could I not follow 
my boy, and the other young Throopers, even from 
afar, in this greatest of all Crusades? So I did what 
common sense suggested, and sent out an "S. O. S." 
call to a friend. He himself was already in Wash- 
ington, where no man has rendered greater service. 
He is the sort of friend that never fails when needed. 
So it was a glad day when the telegraph brought an 
answer from Washington, offering service — at a dol- 
lar a year — with the Council of National Defense. 
My board of trustees lent me to the Government, and 
I took the next Santa Fe train. 

^Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education. Higher 
Education Circular No. 6, Jan., 1918, pp. lo-ii. 



CHAPTER IV 

WASHINGTON AND THE COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 

WASHINGTON in the summer of 1917— what 
westerner that then came into it can forget it? Gor- 
geous with its shining palaces set upon hills, its miles 
upon miles of rolling avenues lined with pleasant 
homes, but with no place for the stranger-man to lay 
his head! Beautiful and refreshing beyond words in 
lush green foliage from many lands, but insufferably, 
humidly hot! Feverish with aimless activity, a great 
disordered ant-hill just stepped on by the giant of 
War — the most interesting and ineffectual city in the 
world ! 

Hundreds of new people were here, tripping one 
another up with kind intentions. There was a vast 
amount of criss-crossing and cross-wiring and cross- 
firing; duplication of effort, waste motion, even con- 
flict; not alone among the bewildered newcomers, but 
in the overwhelmed departments and bureaus. Cranks, 
too, filled Washington: cranks in Congress, cranks in 
the corridors of all the hotels and of the one stately 
modern office-building of the town, the famous Mun- 
sey Building, now defiled by Brisbane's Washington 
Times; every crank revolving industriously his own 
panacea for the War, like a hand-organ jangled out 

44 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 45 

of tune. Secretary Lane put it with delightful 
whimsicality in his phrase depicting Washington as "a 
valley surrounded by a horse-shoe of mountains into 
which, by some strange law, the miasmatic vapours of 
the country drop and set up strange states of mind/* 
It was not a discouraging place — we must banish that 
word from our vocabulary; but depressing it cer- 
tainly was one year ago. And it is yet, although less 
so as the huge war machinery begins to bang and jostle 
down into some sort of chaotic order. To change 
the figure — here we were in the very vortex of demo- 
cratic ^ disorder, in the very storm-centre of the cy- 
clone of war, with no cyclone cellar in spite of two 
years of warnings from the international weather 
bureau ; and it was refreshing and tonic to get out into 
the periphery of the States, and feel the War as a 
strong North wind, bracing the popular endeavour. 

There is one recourse even in Washington: that 
shrine across the river, that sacredest and placidest 
spot in all the world. Mount Vernon, where, as Owen 
Wister has said, the calm spirit of the father of our 
country is almost palpable. I went there again only 
yesterday; one goes there when oppressed and hot at 
heart; and always the calm Presence broods over the 
place, so that people go about talking in whispers. 
You feel his vast spaciousness in the broad greens- 
ward lined with stately trees that forms the unsur- 
passable approach to the mansion. You feel his sim- 
ple serenity in the box-bush and hollyhock garden laid 
out by his own patient hands. At the tomb there is a 

*Note the small d, please. 



46 THE NATION AT WAR 

certain splendor of solemnity nowadays : the great 
bronze leaf that Marshal Joffre laid there in the name 
of France surrounded as it is by polyglot tokens from 
the thirty nationalities that went across the river with 
President Wilson on the last fourth of July and 
pledged a new meaning into our old motto, *'E pluribus 
unum." 

But it is in the house itself that the spirit of Wash- 
ington most intimately communes with you, as you see 
the desk at which he wrote, the very clothes he wore, 
the bed on which he died; and the tiny room — still 
above that holy upper chamber — the room from which 
Martha Washington looked out toward his tomb in 
the days that remained to her after his death. What 
means most to you, though, in these times, is to 
stand once again in the entrance hall below, before his 
three swords hanging on the wall — now unsheathed! 
— and read the words which he decreed in his will 
should evermore accompany his swords: 

**Wi)t^t s^tDortrs; are actomjjanieb toitf) an injum* 
tion not to unsffjeatfte tfjem for tije purposfe of sii^tt- 
bing iloob, except it be for ^tli bef en^efe, or in bef ensfe 
of tfjeir countrp anb it^ risfttsi; anb in tfte latter ta^t 
to keep tftem unsiljeatfteb, anb prefer falling toitft 
tljem in tijeir IjanbsJ to tfte relinquije^ljment thereof/* 

We have called him first in peace; these words, re- 
minding us that he was also first in war, speak to us 
to-day from his undying tongue a message that sends 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 47 

us away stilled and steeled with holy resolution to be 
true children of Washington. 

Coming events casting their shadows before, the 
Council of National Defense was established by Act 
of Congress (in August, 1916) to create ''relations 
which will render possible in time of need the immedi- 
ate concentration and utilisation of the resources of 
the Nation." It is an advisory body, comprising in its 
ultimate reduction six cabinet officers: Newton D. 
Baker, chairman, with the other secretaries supposed 
to be specially concerned with the War — Daniels of the 
Navy, Lane of the Interior, Houston of Agriculture, 
Redfield of Commerce, and W. B. Wilson of Labour. 

On March i, 1917, the Council and its "Advisory 
Commission" are said to have settled down to work. 
Walter S. Gifford was chosen as the (salaried) Direc- 
tor of both bodies, with Grosvenor B. Clarkson as sec- 
retary. When I reached Washington late in June the 
Advisory Commission comprised: Daniel Willard, 
chairman, in charge of transportation and communi- 
cation ; Howard E. Coffin, munitions and manufactur- 
'ing, including standardisation, and industrial rela- 
tions; Julius Rosenwald, supplies, including food and 
clothing; Bernard M. Baruch, raw materials, min- 
erals, and metals; Dr. Hollis Godfrey, engineering and 
education; Samuel Gompers, labour, including con- 
servation of health and welfare of workers; and Dr. 
Franklin Martin, medicine and surgery, including 
general sanitation. 

Director Gifford is a brilliant and affable man, still 
in his thirties, lent to the Government by the Amer- 



48 THE NATION AT WAR 

ican Telephone and Telegraph Company, of which he 
is chief statistician. Two courses lay open to him 
at the outset: the development of the Council as a 
powerful organism, on the one hand, or the use of it 
to incubate a brood of useful independent organisa- 
tions, on the other. The latter course has prevailed : 
They must increase, although I must decrease, might 
well have been the motto of the Council, thus far. 
For example, there was organised at the outset, as one 
of the fourteen or fifteen committees of the Council 
and its Advisory Commission, a Munitions Standards 
Board, with Frank A. Scott as chairman. This was 
done because Mr. Gifford discovered "early in the 
game" that we should require quantity production of 
munitions; for we had no quantity production in this 
country, and we had no designs and specifications to 
enable us to manufacture our own types of ammuni- 
tion in quantity as they had been made up to this time. 
So, knowing that the Government arsenals were pro- 
ducing output, not by specifications, but considerably 
by "rule of thumb," the Munitions Standards Board 
was formed in order to standardise our specifications, 
so that, as required by the exigencies of modern war- 
fare, we might go into quantity production of muni- 
tions. 

But this first step rapidly developed the immediate 
need of some system to prevent competition between 
Army and Navy when we actually began to place 
contracts. Because of this necessity the General 
Munitions Board evolved from its predecessor, and 
still later this grew into adult size and walked out 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 49 

alone under the rechristened name of the present War 
Industries Board, and under the chairmanship of 
''Barney" Baruch. 

In the same way, one of the early committees of 
the Council and the Advisory Commission was the 
Commercial Economy Board, formed at the sugges- 
tion of Mr. A. W. Shaw, of the System Magazine, to 
strip business for action and take care of conservation 
and waste. Having been fostered by the Council, 
however, it now takes shelter under Mr. Baruch's 
friendly wing, and becomes the Conservation Division 
of the War Industries Board just described. 

There were many sporadic efforts on the part of 
women to utilise the invaluable woman-power of the 
country. The Council succeeded in the co-ordination 
of these efforts under a Woman's Committee of the 
Council, which, with the leadership of Dr. Anna How- 
ard Shaw, has rendered incalculable service in the 
mobilisation of the national resources, but has natur- 
ally tended to self-determination and the prerogative 
of standing alone. 

As for labour, the experience of Europe had shown 
that at the outbreak of war labour standards are liable 
to be broken down, resulting in dissatisfaction on the 
part of labour, in the suspicion that wars are run by 
capitalists, and that "profiteers" are to get the sole 
gain. So Mr. Gompers, as a member of the Ad- 
visory Commission, created committees of representa- 
tives of both labour and capital, and very early they 
and the Council adopted resolutions as to labour stand- 
ards and the proper activities of labour, thus convinc- 



50 THE NATION AT WAR 

ing the public, but especially labour itself, that the 
Government would not tolerate the breaking down of 
standards built up on behalf of workingmen. The 
Council, through the advice and assistance of commit- 
tees on labour, considered from time to time seriously 
the best methods for handling the whole labour prob- 
lem, finally ending in the presentation of a compre- 
hensive labour plan to the President, with the recom- 
mendation that it be carried out through the Depart- 
ment of Labour itself — which thus, by the Council's 
own act, takes over this lusty "offspring.'* 

Realising the difficulties of our Allies regarding 
food, the Council early discussed the food problem, 
cabling for Mr. Herbert Hoover with the idea of 
creating an organisation to advise as to how food 
matters should be dealt with. The creation of the 
Food Administration by Congress relieved the Coun- 
cil of this important function. Largely in the same 
way the Committees on Coal Production and on Trans- 
portation have been superseded by the Coal Admin- 
istration and the Railroad Administration. 

Experience in previous wars has shown that no 
phase of warfare is more vital than proper medical 
attention and sanitation, while the present War 
has proved the necessity of safeguarding the welfare 
of civilians. The Federal Government had three 
agencies in charge of these matters; nevertheless, civ- 
ilian medical talent had not been mobilised or trained 
in a manner that would enable it to be most effectively 
used. The General Medical Board was formed to co- 
ordinate this work, and State and County committees o{ 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 51 

physicians are now organised throughout the whole land. 

In the judgment of the present writer no organi- 
sation called out by the War is rendering more im- 
portant service now or will prove of greater perma- 
nent value than the National Research Council, of 
which George Ellery Hale is president and founder. 
While still maintaining a nominal connection with the 
Council of National Defense, it has recently received 
the sanction of an Executive Order, and is rapidly 
evolving an organisation not merely of national but 
of great international import 

Finally: the problem of utilising local energies on 
a large scale was early suggested to the Council by 
offers of help from many States, cities, towns, com- 
munities, and clubs ; for in those early days the Coun- 
cil was the only reservoir for these valuable offers of 
aid. All of this miscellaneous activity was ultimately 
organised by the Council under forty-eight State 
Councils of Defense, which in turn formed County 
Councils, and are now reaching out to assemble "Com- 
munity Councils" in school-houses, with the school dis- 
trict as the ultimate unit of the national organisation 
for war work. Representing the States rather than 
Washington, and occupying a building of its own, 
there has grown up a State Councils Section,^ of 
which I have been the Chief Field Agent. To tell of 
my experience in this position is the chief object of the 
following pages. ^ 

* Formerly called the "Section on Co-operation with States." 
*In the preparation of the foregoing account of the Council 
I have had the invaluable aid of Director W. S. Gifford. 



52 THE NATION AT WAR 

An excellent summary of what the State Councils 
have accomplished is contained in the following letter 
from Secretary Baker, chairman of the Council of 
National Defense, to President Wilson : 

COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE 
WASHINGTON 

July 24, 1918. 
My dear Mr. President: 

As Chairman of the Council of National Defense, I 
beg to report to you the noteworthy accomplishments 
of the State Councils of Defense in the forty-eight 
states of the Union, and to indicate the war activities 
for which they seem to me to be peculiarly fitted and 
peculiarly responsible, and to ask your advice and 
assistance in a matter vital to their future effective- 
ness. 

The State Councils of Defense, as you are well 
aware, were instituted at the suggestion of the Council 
of National Defense shortly after we entered the war. 
Almost from the day of their organisation they took 
a prominent part in recruiting our armed forces. 
Since the early months of the great struggle they have 
rendered particularly valuable service on behalf of 
the Department of Agriculture in increasing the pro- 
duction of foodstuffs. Before the creation of the 
United States Food Administration they led the na- 
tional campaign for food conservation. Most of them 
took a leading part in the institution of Home_ Guards 
to take the place of the federalised militia. They met 
many another state emergency by prompt local action. 
As time went on, in the natural course of events many 
of the fields of action which they had occupied were 
officially taken over by especially created Federal Ad- 
ministrations. But new problems constantly arose 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 5S 

and the work of the State Councils, instead of dimin- 
ishing, has notably increased in scope and in signifi- 

cance. 

To accomplish this work they have built up an 
organisation uniquely suited to its purpose. Every 
State Council of Defense has active County, or equiva- , 
lent, Councils of Defense under it, while in nearly f 
every state the organisation of Community Councils 
in the school districts, bringing the Government to the 
people and the people to the Government, is progres- 
sing rapidly. . 

Through their speakers, their war conferences, their 
contact with the press and their contact with the peo- 
ple themselves through their Community Councils, the 
State Councils are now in a special sense the guar- . 
dians of civilian morale in each state ; carrying on a 
work of education and information which we look 
to see continued and strengthened, in order that the 
will to win and the knowledge of how to make that 
will effective may be everybody's possession through- 
out the war, in the dark hours of trial as well as m 
the hour of victory. 

In states with a considerable population of for- 
eign origin, the State Councils of Defense are leaders 
in the work of Americanisation, establishing war in- 
formation bureaus, correlating existing Americanisa- 
tion agencies, increasing as far as possible the educa- 
tional facilities available to the foreign-born, and see- 
ing that such facilities are used. , 

The State Councils are engaged in preparing the 
young men of the country for the high_dijit.y.of-selecr^ 
tive service, advising and informing them in particular . 
upon the adjustment of their legal affairs and upon 
military conditions and requirements and social 
hygiene. 

They are bringing their great influence to bear on 



54 THE NATION AT WAR 

behalf of economy and thrift throughout the country. 
It is also their special task, in the interest of economy, 
to supervise the solicitation of funds for war relief 
by voluntary agencies, and to co-ordinate the efforts of 
these agencies, seeing that they v^ork harmoniously 
and to a common purpose, and determining v^hat 
agencies shall be approved and v^hat discouraged. 

They act also as the state representatives of the 
Highv^ays Transport Committee of the Council of 
National Defense in the increasingly important v^ork 
of extending and facilitating motor-truck transporta- 
tion, in order to reduce the tremendous burden on our 
railroads and to stimulate the production of food by 
providing means of transporting it to market. 

In addition, they are doing notable work in con- 
nection with public health; in connection with voca- 
tional education; and in studying and assisting in the 
solution of the difficult housing and rent-profiteering 
problems which the war has brought to many a 
locality. 

Last, but far from least, their ramifying organisa- 
tion enables them to play a valuable part in the prac- 
tical execution of the policies of the Department of 
Agriculture, the Food Administration, the Fuel Ad- 
ministration, the Labour Department, the Shipping 
Board, and the other Federal agencies which are ex- 
tended into the states. We expect the state represen- 
tatives of these Federal agencies to feel in the future, 
as they have been able to feel in the past, that the 
organisation of the State Council of Defense is their 
ready right-hand. Most of the State Councils are 
incidentally performing the special service of bring- 
ing these Federal representatives together for fre- 
quent and regular consultation, and in most of the 
states these Federal representatives are actually mem- 
bers of the Councils of Defense. 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 55 

These, in general terms, are the broad lines upon 
which the State Councils are now acting, and I have 
said nothing of the local industrial and social emer- 
gencies which it is their special province to meet by 
local action. 

The existence of this great national system, valu- 
able for each and every Government department, X 
makes, of course, for economy of effort and renders 
unnecessary the creation of much local Federal ma- 
chinery which would otherwise have to be set up for 
the performance of specific tasks. 

May I suggest, then, that you ask all Federal 
Departments, Administrations, and Commissions, 
when planning new work or extension of their organi- 
sations, to consider carefully the possibility of using 
the State-Council system so as to prevent duplication ? 
A better understanding on this point throughout 
Washington, would, I think, make for the general 
efficiency of the war machine. 

Furthermore, will you not remind the heads of all 
Federal Departments, Administrations and Commis- 
sions, that all requests and suggestions for work on 
the part of the State Councils should be submitted 
through the State Councils Section of the Council of 
National Defense? This Section has attained a 
strong position as the agency to which the State Coun- 
cils look for authority and guidance in the pro- 3 
grammes committed to them for execution. It is | 
clear that in the interest of efficiency, all requests for 
action from the Federal Government should go to i 
them through this single channel. In the past Fed- ^ 
eral authorities have, not infrequently, caused confu- 
sion by going directly to the State Councils with 
recommendations — sometimes with conflicting recom- 
mendations. I believe a word from you would pre- 
vent such misunderstandings in the future. 



56 THE NATION AT WAR 

It is difficult to estimate the importance of the 
service rendered, since our entrance into the war, by 
these State Councils, their County^ Councils and the 
I multitude of workers banded together under them, 
' whom we estimate to number at least one million. I 
feel sure that you, as their Commander-in-Chief, will 
be proud of their unique contribution in the war and 
will use your authority to broaden the scope of their 
activities as conditions permit, so that they may go 
on to still greater achievements. 

Very sincerely yours, 

NEWTON D. BAKER, 

Secretary of War and 
Chairman of Council 
of National Defense. 

To this letter the President replied as follows: 

THE WHITE HOUSE 
WASHINGTON 

July 30, 1918. 
My dear Mr. Baker: 

I have read with great interest your account of the 
achievements of the State Councils of Defense and 
your general summary of the activities in which they 
are now engaged. It is a notable record, and I shall 
be glad to have you express to the State Councils my 
appreciation of the service they have so usefully ren- 
dered. I am particularly struck by the value of ex- 
tending our defense organisation into the smallest 
communities and by the truly democratic character of 
a national system so organised. 

I believe in the soundness of your contention that in 
the interest of economy and efficiency such machinery 
as that provided by the State Council system for the 



COUNCIL OF DEFENSE 67 

execution of many kinds of war work should be 
utilised as far as possible by Federal Departments and 
Administrations. May I suggest, therefore, that you 
communicate to the heads of all such departments and 
administrations my wish that when they are consider- 
ing extensions of their organisation into the States or 
new work to be done in the States, they determine 
carefully whether they cannot utilise the State Council 
system, thus rendering unnecessary the creation of 
new machinery; and that they transmit all requests 
for action by the State Councils through the State 
Councils Section of the Council of National Defense? 
Cordially and sincerely yours, 

WOODROW WILSON. 
Hon. N. D. Baker, 
Secretary of War. 



CHAPTER V 



**DOWN south": the carolinas 



THE OATH I swore on joining the Council of 
National Defense gave me profound relief. Like 
many thousands of other Americans, I had been chok- 
ing with unsworn oaths ever since the sinking of the 
Lusitania; now I could not only swear without being 
profane, but — to be very serious — I could solemnly 
pledge my fealty as a servant of the Republic in the 
time of our gravest need. Here is the oath; there 
will be occasion to refer to it later :^ 

"I, James A. B. Scherer, do solemnly swear that I 
will support and defend the Constitution of the United 
States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that 
I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same ; that 
I take this obligation freely, without any mental reser- 
vation or purpose of evasion; that I will well and 
faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which 
I am about to enter, and that I will not disclose any 
information contained in the schedules, lists, or state- 
ments obtained for or prepared by the Council of 
National Defense, to any person or persons, except 
those designated by the Director : so help me God." 

My first job in Washington, after reading all the 
Council "literature" — minutes, bulletins, and corre- 
*See Appendix A. 

58 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 59 

spondence — accumulated during the three or four 
months of its actual operations, was appointment as 
''liaison officer" with the Food Administration. In the 
attempt to reduce somewhat the duplication and even 
conflict of effort resulting from the ''planlessness" of 
things, these "liaison officers" have been appointed by- 
various bodies, especially by the Council of Defense. 
Acting, as it does, as an intermediary between the 
Capital and the States, it serves as a clearing-house — 
in so far as permitted to do so' — for all the federal 
agencies as these reach out to State Councils. Con- 
sequently our State Councils Section has its liaison of- 
ficers (although they are not officially called that) for 
the War and Navy Departments, the Departments of 
Labour and Agriculture, the Food and Fuel Adminis- 
trations, the Committee on Public Information, and so 
on all along the line. 

Although unsuccessful in the first task assigned to 
me — the attempt to get the Food Administration to 
abandon ''Hooveralls for women," as its proposed 
universal uniform was humourously called — I derived 
from this brief experience a personal knowledge of 
Mr. Hoover that will always remain an inspiration. 

The State Councils of Defense being still in process 
of organisation, and sending in emergency calls now 
and then for ''first aid," it was decided to let me try 
my hand as a sort of trouble doctor. From this be- 
ginning my position developed rapidly into that of 
Chief Field Agent for the Section, and I became an 
incessant traveller. 

The State Councils of Defense are organisations in 



60 THE NATION AT WAR 

behalf of public safety. In some States, indeed, such 
as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, they are known as 
"Committees of Public Safety": safety from mili- 
tary attack, safety from spies and the otherwise sedi- 
tious, safety from the harmful acts of well-intentioned 
but ignorant or irresponsible persons, from the waste 
caused by carelessness or idleness, from disease, hun- 
ger, unhealthful surroundings, and from immorality 
and crime.^ 

These apparently negative functions become active 
the moment they are organised; the prevention of food 
waste, for example, becomes conservation, and this 
immediately suggests the stimulation of production. 
The earliest acts of the Councils had to do, as a mat- 
ter of fact, with food conservation and production, so 
that Mr. Hoover, when Congress at length unham- 
pered him, found fields fallowed to his hand. 

South Carolina, the first State visited for the Na- 
tional Council, is a good illustration of this. The 
State Council, organised under the chairmanship of 
David R. Coker, inevitably emphasised improvement 
in agricultural methods, since Mr. Coker himself con- 
ducts what is probably the best privately owned experi- 
mental farm in the country. The "war interest" and 
the war organisations enable Mr. Coker and men like 
him to get a hearing they never have had before. 
Anybody that knows the South remembers how long 
and how vainly agricultural educationalists have en- 
deavoured to induce Southern planters to abandon the 

* Woman's Committee News, Delaware State Council of De- 
fense, June, 1918. 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 61 

economic fallacy of putting all their land into cotton, 
"the money crop,"^ and sending out West for "hog 
and hominy,'* their foodstuffs as well as their feed- 
stuffs, instead of producing these at home. 

Since the War began in Europe these philanthro- 
pists have at last got a hearing ; the war interest creates 
a psychological opportunity for "forcing home" truths 
that otherwise have pattered on deaf ears. You there- 
fore find that Southern States, such as Alabama, are 
for the first time since long before the Civil War now 
feeding themselves; not buying a pound of hominy 
or a can of lard from the West; and then putting 
their surplus lands into cotton. The South is better 
off than it was before materially, and it is better off 
spiritually, because it has learned a new self-reliance 
and a new self-respect. It will never go back to the 
old plan. It is being made over by the War. 

I was bom in a little old State that has not thought 
very much of itself, because its neighbours used up all 
the conceit there was. I was born in North Carolina, 
that valley of humility between those twin peaks of 
pride, Virginia and South Carolina. It did me a lot 
of good to get down into the "Old North State" and 
see how these tar-heels are sharpening their wits in 
Uncle Sam's service. Take the matter of "publicity ;" 
and this much abused word has great import in these 
days when the proper information of our people has 
been perhaps the greatest problem that perplexed us. 
In North Carolina they believe that even doctors have 
their uses, so they have organised the physicians of 

' See "Cotton as a World Power," Scherer, ch. 68. 



62 THE NATION AT WAR 

the State into a patriotic league, and nowadays when 
a doctor goes into a tar-heel home to relieve a patient 
who is shaking with fever and ague, he not only gives 
him quinine, but while he has him **down" he injects 
into him the spiritual hypodermic of a more intelligent 
patriotism, so that if the doctor has luck the man not 
only gets up well, he gets up better — a better patriot 
than when he went to bed. 

They have also quaintly organised the women down 
there; they have what might be called a company of 
three-minute women, on the principle, I suppose, that 
women can say more in three minutes than the Four- 
Minute Men can in four (and say it much more to the 
purpose). They have put these three-minute women 
at the telephones; it is easy enough to get the co- 
operation of the telephone companies. So every day 
at noon when the North Carolina farmer puts his ear 
to the telephone he not only gets the latest market 
quotations on "butter'n'eggs," and corn and cotton 
and hay, but "central" drops into his ear at the same 
time just a little dose of the proper patriotic "dope" 
that Uncle Sam thinks he needs at the moment. 

I was glad to go down into Dixie, because, born 
and bred in the South, I wanted to see for myself just 
how far the German Emperor's nefarious programme 
had succeeded in stirring up the black man against 
the white. Senator Overman said the other day that 
there are 400,000 German spies in this country ; surely 
enough to go 'round. Well, when I first went South 
for the Government I wished for the loan of a spy, 
that he might Vv'ith me "spy out the land," hear what 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 63 

I have heard, see what I have seen, and then report 
to his Kaiser truthfully (if he could) his observations 
in the form of a letter. 

In Atlanta I would introduce him to a burly black 
soldier, immeasurably proud of his khaki, who 
chucked himself in the chest when I was in Georgia 
last summer and exclaimed : 

"Ah don' wondah dat dem Chutones hab had eb'ry 
t'ing their own way so fah; who's dey had to fight 
ag'inst? Nobuddy but jes' ha'f-strainers — English- 
muns an' Irishmuns an' Frenchmuns. But you all jus' 
wait till us Angry-Saxons gits over thah and gits 
aftah 'em ; we'll sho' show 'em whut's whut !" 

I told that story at a great War congress of black 
people and white people in Birmingham, Alabama. 
The Negroes jumped to their feet and shouted almost 
as one man, ''Sho' we'll show 'em!" The other 
speaker that night was Major Moton, the distin- 
guished Negro who succeeded Booker Washington as 
President of Tuskegee Institute. He said that during 
the brief period of this War and by reason of it more 
has been accomplished in the improvement of rela- 
tions between the blacks and whites in the South than 
during his entire life-time previously. German spies 
please note carefully! 

A year ago Washington was much concerned about 
the danger of an acute labour shortage in the South. 
The Pennsylvania Railroad and other big corpora- 
tions had sent agents down there to induce a Negro 
exodus, to make good the labour shortage caused by 
-the draft in the North ; and the Negroes were leaving 



64 THE NATION AT WAR 

pell-mell. Not only the Council of National Defense 
but the Departments of Agriculture and Labour asked 
me to look into this matter for them. While I was 
in Mississippi the problem gave promise of beginning 
to settle itself. At Jackson an officer of the Cham- 
ber of Commerce gave me a letter he had just received 
from a Negro that had gone "up North;'* it was so 
delicious that I copy it verbatim: 

"To my kind loving white friends whom I worked 
for over eight years, I wish to express my gratitude 
to you all for all my loving kindness towards me since 
I first knew you. You have been so good to me I can 
never forget it, and it gives me a great deal of pleas- 
ure to sit down here and tell you how I appreciate all 
your good deeds, and to ask you to be more gooder. 

"Facts is, I am worried and stirred up in my hart up 
here. I am not comforted here at all, and I want you 
to all forgive me and forget me for leaving, and to 
plead with you for my job back. I know it is all my 
foolish mistakes. Please grant me with enough money 
to come home on and take it out of my wages. I 
started to work to-day at $2 a day, but if it was $10 
a day I want to come back to work for you and die 
with you, and my family. There ain't no place like 
the South. I could do a lot of good preaching to my 
race the great deanger that is in the north, because 
they don't know what it is. If you don't send me the 
money to come I will just hafter stay till I get enough 
myself, but please send it at once. I am working in a 
bag and sack factory trucking 1,000 pounds of baled 
sacking and I am awful weak from it. I don't weight 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 65 

but 127 pounds and you know I can't last long. I 
want to come right now and please don't take this for 
jokes. I never tells jokes nor hes no more. God 
knows this is the truth. Please deliver me from up 
here as quick as you can." 

They sent him the money and delivered him from 
up there as quick as they could. While I was in 
Mississippi, two big steamboats came chug-chug-chug- 
ging down Mark Twain's Mississippi river loaded to 
the '^gunnels" with a thousand Negroes coming *'back 
home" with a homing instinct almost as strong as that 
of the carrier pigeon itself. Beneath all superficial . 
disturbances there is a strong bond between the South- 
ern white man and the Negro. This War has greatly 
strengthened that bond and I predict that in conse- 
quence of such State Council movements as that of 
the ''Sumter County plan" in South Carolina, the race 
problem is going to be far less acute in the South in 
the future than it has been in the immediate past. 

That is what interests me chiefly about these State 
Councils. Important as they are for the winning of 
the War, they will have a far-reaching influence, if 
their activities continue to be properly directed. I am 
not an apologist for war; far from it. But, oUt of 
the terrible evil of this War, it takes no prophet's 
eye to see good coming to America. Can we not al- 
ready discover the awakening of a new national con- 
. sciousness? President Wilson himself said, in New 
York City, that the Nation has been more closely knit 
together by one year of war than would have been 



66 THE NATION AT WAR 

possible in a hundred years of peace.^ One can see, 
also, an opportunity for the economic regeneration of 
the Nation. If we teach our people for the period of 
this War (and for my part I detect no early prospect 
of its conclusion) methods of thrift and economy and 
efficiency, these methods will tend to become habits; 
and we can have a saner, healthier and more efficient 
America when the boys come marching home from 
their Great Crusade. 
/' The distinctive contribution of South Carolina to 
National Defense plans is, in my judgment, "the Sum- 
ter County plan," for co-operation with Negroes in 
war work. It may best be described in the words of 
Mr. E. I. Rear don. Secretary of the Sumter County 
Council of Defense : 

"We first interested R. W. Westberry, an intelli- 
gent leader of the coloured race," writes Mr. Reardon, 
"in our plans for organising the white people. We 
had Westberry attend our first County Council of De- 
fense meeting, and all subsequent meetings. We en- 
gaged his services for thirty days, paying him $5.00 a 
day or about three cents per mile expense of his auto- 
mobile, he really charging nothing but his actual 
expenses. We had him to call about twenty mass 
meetings of coloured men, women, boys, and girls, 
at coloured rural schools, coloured city schools, 
churches, and other public places. We had two or 

* "In my own mind I am convinced that not a hundred years 
of peace could have knitted this nation together as this single 
year of war has knitted it together ; and better even than that, if 
possible, it is knitting the world together." — From the President's 
Red Cross speech in New York City, May 18, 1918, as reported 
by the Washington Post of the following day. 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 67 

more leading business men, — bankers, lawyers, and 
merchants, — from among the whites to meet with 
these coloured people at every township meeting and 
address them; together with coloured ministers of 
these townships and other influential coloured citizens. 

"We distributed thousands of packages of seed, 
such as several kinds of beans, peas, corn, and other 
garden seed, and millet seed. We distributed 50,000 
cabbage and 25,000 sweet-potato plants, besides 
35,000 papers of United States packages of five dif- 
ferent kinds of garden seed, each package containing 
ins.tructions how to use. We organised coloured 
women's auxiliary committees, with Westberry as 
leader, in cities, towns and rural districts. 

*We have kept up these township meetings at in- 
tervals, including a whirlwind campaign among the 
coloured population of ten townships, Westberry and 
coloured ministers talking at every meeting. We in- 
terested coloured teachers also and we have the 
coloured pupils taught all about the War and the 
causes that led to the War; the importance of food 
production and conservation, the fact that 'Food will 
win the War.' We organised or induced coloured 
people over the county to organise Red Cross chap- 
ters and to subscribe to the Red Cross, to buy Liberty 
Loan Bonds, and to educate coloured people that this 
is as much their War as the white man's War. 

"Executive committees (coloured) were formed in 
nearly every township. We had the members of the 
white township committees visit every coloured fam- 
ily and preach the doctrine of extraordinary food pro- 
duction and conservation and the reasons therefor. 

"We had hundreds of white land-owners to help 
their coloured tenants and 'share croppers' to plant 
plenty of com, wheat, oats, vegetables, sweet and 
Irish potatoes, rice, tobacco, velvet beans, soy beans, 



68 THE NATION AT WAR 

peanuts, field peas, and to raise chickens, hogs, and in 
many instances to buy dairy cows. 

"We let the coloured people know that we were 
working with and for them. We helped them every 
way we could and are still doing it. We had several 
big county meetings in Sumter, the county seat, ad- 
dressed by congressmen, U. S. Government agricul- 
tural and live-stock and grain experts, and we had the 
coloured people to attend these meetings with white 
people. 

"We got the Negroes to doing just what we were 
and are still doing. There is more prosperity in 
Sumter County this fall than ever before in the coun- 
ty's history. Thousands of coloured farmers have 
paid clean out of debt, — paid old debts from tobacco 
money received, and have their fall cotton money 
clear. We have fought to induce thousands of them 
to deposit their money and to buy Liberty Bonds with 
their surplus cash. Hundreds will do this. Others 
will of course buy automobiles and other useless com- 
modities. But by getting into close elbow-touch with 
the coloured men and women and helping them we 
have made this one of the most prosperous counties in 
the South. Where twelve months ago poverty pre- 
vailed and actual want was in evidence, nearly every 
coloured family in the county has plenty of chickens, 
eggs, sweet potatoes, and hogs to do them for a year, 
and we have induced thousands of coloured families 
to can and preserve thousands of cans of vegetables 
and berries and fruits. 

"We placed great stress upon the teaching of col- 
oured women and girls how to preserve and can. We 
employed an expert (coloured) 'home demonstrator' 
and opened a school in Sumter which thousands at- 
tended long enough to learn how to preserve food. 

"Our coloured people are loyal, patriotic, and as 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 69 

proud of the United States as the white people are. 
They know now that the Sumter County white people 
are their best friends. They work with us in all 
matters for public welfare. They listen to the advice 
of the white men and to their coloured leaders. We 
have coloured ministers meet with us occasionally at 
the Chamber of Commerce and other places, where we 
discuss the War and its economic problems heart to 
heart, as fellow citizens. 

"We are delighted with the results obtained from 
the coloured people's efforts. We are keeping it up 
and will continue to do so. All the coloured man 
needs is intelligent leadership from among his white 
fellow-citizens and intelligent co-operation. By hav- 
ing the loyal and intelligent coloured leaders in close 
touch with white leaders, and giving the coloured 
leaders support, — financial and moral support, — we 
easily line up the rest of the coloured population for 
their good and our good. But we had to go to them 
and have them come to us, and work with them and 
they with the white people. No social restrictions 
were broken down. We worked on purely business 
principles and they understood this." ^ 

Two years ago I quoted with reluctantly pessimistic 
approval the clever comparison of the race problem 
with a fog: *'the Southern people are inside this fog, 
and cannot see out, while the Northerners, outside of 
it, cannot see in."^ My knowledge, acquired during 
the past year, of changed conditions such as Mr. Rear- 
don*s remarkable letter describes, now leads me to 
believe that the storm of the War is blowing the race 
fog aside, for the moment at least. White men and 

* "Cotton as a World Power, a Study in the Economic Inter- 
pretation of History," Scherer, p. Z'^'Z- 



70 THE NATION AT WAR 

black men in the South, warmed by the common cause 
of humanity, thrilled with the knowledge that their 
two races are clad in common khaki on the fields of 
France, fighting in the Great Crusade, — white men 
and black men in the South now see eye to eye, be- 
cause their kinsmen are fighting shoulder to shoulder 
"over there.'* 

North Carolina leads the whole country in canning 
campaigns, Mrs. Jane McKinnon's achievements be- 
ing nothing short of marvellous. Between 19 lo and 
1916 this remarkable "director of Home Economics" 
brought the number of cans up from 10,000 to 
400,000, and under the War impetus this number was 
increased in 19 17 to over 7,000,000! 

North Carolina was also the first State to organise 
a "Business Aid and Legal Advisory Committee" for 
the soldiers. A soldier cannot do his best in camp, to 
say nothing of the battlefield, if he knows that a mort- 
gage hangs over his home, or is uneasy abouts debts 
that he could in the natural course of events have re- 
paid had he not been snatched into war. It is simple 
enough, if only you have an organisation of authority, 
to get competent lawyers tO' volunteer their services 
for advice and business aid to such soldiers. This 
praiseworthy movement has now spread to practically 
all the States, with its scope so enlarged in several 
States as to provide employment for soldiers on their 
return and to undertake the re-education of the 
maimed or disabled. 

When we were selecting the title for this book, my 
publisher suggested that it bear a double meaning: 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 71 

"the Nation at war" against a foreign foe, and ''the 
Nation at war," with equal determination and inten- 
sity, against those foes of our own household who 
have threatened its integrity from within. This sug- 
gestion cleverly formulated my own latent intention, 
an intention derived from experience. Our people 
have been long-suffering beyond any people in his- 
tory; but they are now resolved not only to break the 
tyranny of Prussia, they are equally determined to dis- 
solve insidious sedition at home. I found in the Caro- 
linas, alas! certain Americans with German names 
whose names meant more to them than their birth- 
right — those "creatures of passion, disloyalty, and 
anarchy, not many, but infinitely malignant," as the 
President once said, who, even in the so-called re- 
ligious press (God save the mark!) flouted American 
institutions and subtly incited to disloyalty. I] 

I found, too, a growing bitterness against them on 
the part of those truly constituting the Nation. Ways 
and means were considered for counteracting their 
influence and assisting the Department of Justice to 
punish them. In some cases the Department suc- 
ceeded; I have the satisfaction of knowing that 
at least two of the gentry who "boiled me in oil" are 
now stewing in a juice of their own brewing behind 
prison bars. But the most effective service has been 
rendered against "German-Americans," in the Caro- 
linas, as elsewhere, by Americans of German descent 
— a distinction with a very great difference. And of 
these no man has done more than Dr. George B. 



72 THE NATION AT WAR 

Cromer, of Newberry, by such utterances as that 
printed in the "South Carolina Handbook of the 
War" : 

"We might have kept out of the War,'* said Dr. 
Cromer, 

"By admitting that Germany has the right selfishly 
to treat her solemn contracts with other nations as 
'scraps of paper/ 

"By admitting that Germany had the right, with 
mailed fist and iron heel, ruthlessly to crush and de- 
stroy Belgium, a weak nation whose neutrality she 
was under sacred obligation to protect. 

"By admitting that Germany, while enjoying our 
hospitality and professing to be our friend, had the 
right to maintain an army of spies and carry on a 
campaign of lawlessness in our own country. 

"By admitting that Germany, while professing to be 
our friend, had the right to embroil us with Mexico 
and Japan in an effort to destroy the integrity of our 
country. 

"By admitting that Germany, while professing to 
be our friend, had the right, with ruthless and devil- 
ish disregard of law and humanity, to destroy our 
ships and murder our citizens, men, women, and chil- 
dren, travelling on peaceful missions and within their 
perfect legal rights. 

"By admitting that might is right; that there is no 
law of nations above the will and power of the Im- 
perial German Government; that our flag is no longer 
an emblem of sovereignty and national honour; that 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 73 

we have a spineless and nerveless Government or a 
nation of slackers and cowards; and that our Con- 
stitution and the Declaration of Independence are 
'scraps of paper/ 

"Being unwilling to admit these things, we are in 
the War. We will come out of the War by the gate 
of Victory — victory that will vindicate the rights and 
freedom of our own people, and victory for justice, 
liberty, and humanity. But we must overcome an 
army at home as well as vast armies in Europe. In 
our own country are spies, so-called pacifists, traitors, 
and demagogues, who are diligently sowing the seeds 
of sedition and treason by criticising the methods and 
policies of our Government and by creating division 
and dissatisfaction among our own people. They are 
trying to shackle the Government, and, in effect, they 
are attacking our army in flank and rear. Our army 
is entitled to the undivided support of a united coun- 
try. To this end and to the utmost limit of its Con- 
stitutional authority, the Government should put down 
the sinister Pro-German influences that are at work in 
our country. There is no middle ground. Our citi- 
zens who are not Pro-American are Pro-German. 
Those who are not for us are against us." 

Of course one cannot write of the Carolinas with- 
out saying something about the two Governors. 
Julian Street admonishes me, however, very solemnly. 
He says that when he was in Raleigh it seemed to him 
that the Governor had a look both worn and appre- 



74 THE NATION AT WAR 

hensive, and that, while they talked, the Governor 
was waiting for something. He doesn't know how he 
gathered that impression, but it came to him definitely. 
After leaving the executive chamber he asked the gen- 
tleman who had taken him there whether the Governor 
was ill. 

"No," he replied. "All our Governors look like 
that after they have been in office for a while." 

"From overwork?" asked Mr. Street. 

"Yes, from an overworked jest — the jest about 
'what the Governor of North Carolina said to the 
Governor of South Carolina.' Every one who meets 
the Governor thinks of that joke and believes con- 
fidently that no one has ever before thought of his 
application of it. So they all pull it on him. For 
the first few months our Governors stand it pretty 
well, but after that they begin to break down. They 
feel they ought to smile, but they can't. They begin to 
dread meeting strangers, and to show it in their bear- 
ing. When in private life our Governor had a very 
pleasant expression, but like all the others, he has ac- 
quired, in office, the expression of an iron dog."^ 

I myself am inclined to think that Mr. Street's 
friend was mistaken, and that Governor Bickett's iron 
jaw is due not to an overworked joke, but to his de- 
termination to help win the War. Certainly he is one 
of the wisest War governors in the country, and close 
in his touch with the common people. But when I 
was in Raleigh he was bothered. A letter from an 

* "American Adventures," Street, pp. 276-277. 



"DOWN SOUTH": THE CAROLINAS 75 

equally determined war-worker had just been re- 
ceived, beginning as follows : 

"My dear Governor: 

"Have I as a private citizen the legal right to shoot 
a man who utters slanders and seditious threats about 
the President and the Government?" 

Then, after a description of highly provocative lan- 
guage on the part of one of his neighbours, this rough- 
diamond patriot proceeds with much earnestness to his 
conclusion : 

"Please let me know whether or not I have the right 
as I asked at the beginning of this letter to shoot any 
one I hear abusing and making threats against the 
President and our Government. If your reply is in 
the affirmative, I will proceed at once to a good hard- 
ware store and buy myself the biggest six-shooter I 
can find." 

Governor Manning of South Carolina bears the 
proud distinction of the starriest service flag to which 
any Governor is entitled. Six of his seven sons are 
in the service, and so this glorious Southern Governor 
(successor of Blease!) leads the Palmetto State in a 
martial devotion worthy of Marion and Sumter and 
Hampton.^ 

* In a letter to the author (Aug. 8, 1918) Governor Manning 
writes : "Yes, I have six sons in the service, and one sixteen 
years old. My regret is that he is too young and I am too old !" 



CHAPTER VI 



"down south": the farther dixie 



CITIES have always had for me infinite charm. 
Somewhere — I think in the judicial deliverances of 
those amiable young Solons who conduct The New 
Republic — I have read contempt of that ^'affectation" 
that pretends to find individuality and even person- 
ality in cities. In that case I must accept the con- 
tempt of the court; for a new city always rushes out 
and gets me at grips until by wrestling with it I 
know it and it becomes to me almost a soul. 

Some cities tease me a long time. New Orleans 
challenged me mightily when as a boy I first saw it. 
Going there many times afterward, I never seemed 
to get fully acquainted with it until after we entered 
this War. 

Even so I cannot analyse its charm or depict its 
rare personality ; for that you must go to the pages of 
Lafcadio Hearn or Grace King or George W. Cable. 
Julian Street is too crude by far — reminding you of 
one of those men who amuse you by saying they know 
all about women! 

Feminine New Orleans is; to that extent Julian 
Street is right. ''She is a full-blown, black-eyed, 
dreamy, drawly creature," he says, "opulent of figure, 

76 



"DOWN SOUTH": FARTHER DIXIE 77 

white of skin, and red of lip. Like San Francisco 
she has Latin blood which makes her love and preserve 
the carnival spirit; but she is more voluptuous than 
San Francisco, for not only is she touched with the 
languor and the fire of her climate, but she is without 
the virile blood of the forty-niner, or the invigourat- 
ing contact of the fresh Pacific wind. In my imagin- 
ary picture I see her yawning at eleven in the morning 
when her Negro maid brings black coffee to her bed- 
side — such wonderful black coffee! — whereas, at that 
hour, I conceive San Francisco as having long been 
up and about her affairs. Even in the afternoon I 
fancy my New Orleans beauty as a bit relaxed. But 
at dinner she becomes alive, and by midnight she is 
like a flame." ^ 

Very well written, Mr. Street, but not subtle ; your 
portrait is too vivid, and stares at you out of its frame, 
whereas the Creole City is a will-o'-the-wisp, all-elu- 
sive. Certainly San Francisco is always suggested 
when one thinks of New Orleans, if for no other rea- 
son than that the two termini are the great outstand- 
ing attractions of the Southern Pacific Railway. 
But these two far-sundered cities are to me associated 
also in this : they possess the strongest and most chal- 
lenging individuality of all our American cities, bar 
none. Not the greatest charm — there is Charleston; 
not the greatest beauty, — here is Washington, to say 
nothing of Pasadena the incomparable; but what I 
have written I have written. 

New Orleans, like no other city in the world, 

* "American Adventures," Street, p. 622. 



78 THE NATION AT WAR 

whips up the froth of my fancy. Last winter when 
I visited it for the Council time and again, it gripped 
me as never before. I remember one late afternoon, 
when riding back alone into town from the Country 
Club, how "sub-conscious cerebration'* startled me 
from incipient reverie with the chaotic phrase, "a 
quaint magnificent tumult of splendour and squalor,'*' 
which at once I set down in my note-book to keep the 
words as a clue. Two hours later, and more. New 
Orleans gripped me again ; the quaintness and sombre- 
ness and, above all, the poignancy of its always tragic 
beauty came on me as I sat on the rear platform of 
the Washington train, in that gloomy old ''L. & N." 
station, separated from the thronged street that 
crosses the railway tracks behind the train only by 
a thin double gate of latticed steel. This street was 
thronged with a scurrying New Orleans crowd : black- 
amoors, as one should call the Negroes in this roman- 
tic atmosphere; turbaned Laskars from som.e tramp 
steamer in the harbour; our own ''jackies" in their 
silly caps and bell-shaped trousers; Creoles from **the 
Quarter," shamefaced smiling lovers, children chat- 
tering over their sticky *'lagniappe," slouching tramps. 
I remember wondering whether the gates would be 
stronger than pasteboard if the train took a notion to 
back ; and then wandering oflf into one of those eldritch 
musings that grip the mind once in a long while like 
some visualised poem by Coleridge with a touch of 
De Quincey at his elbow. Then I wondered about the 
power of this city to work black magic framed in 
silver musings. I felt foolish ; New Orleans had "got 



"DOWN SOUTH": FARTHER DIXIE 79 

on my nerves"; so I roused myself, and said to the 
^*commercial man" seated at my side: 

"Isn't this a strange old town?" 

"Yes," said he; "haven't sold a dam' dollar's worth 
to-day!" 

This jarred me, but not wide-awake. Deeper still 
I sank again into witchery, charmed by the scene: 
looking out from this Plato's cave of a station at the 
rainbow-coloured crowd, silhouetted under the lights; 
passing, passing always under the fitfully dim arc 
lights; until, bemused by the spell of the sad mad old 
city (not "the city care forgot," as Creoles claim) — > 
until, like the toll of some sunken bell, the words: 
"Impending doom. Impending doom. Impending 
doom," intoned themselves to my fancy and began to 
ring through my head like some tune one would like 
to forget. Then, suddenly — bang! We were shot 
backward through the gates like a catapult! Train 
men shouted, passengers screamed, the frightened peo- 
ple scurried from the tracks, and I could swear that 
we shaved the varnish from the tail of a bob-tailed 
trolley-car, jammed with people, that bumped and hob- 
bled out of our way just in time. There was an open 
switch, sheer inside the station yard itself; and the 
onrushing incoming train from New York had plunged 
into our locomotive with such speed that before our 
borrowed momentum was spent the rear Pullman was 
cuddled alongside a sugar factory, whence the acrid 
smell of over-abundant sweetness added the last touch 
of strangeness to this intagliated mental adventure. 

I write it as it happened. On reflection, however, I 



80 THE NATION AT WAR 

wonder how much of my reverie was due to the ''mint- 
smash'* served on the lawn at the Club, and the ''toast'* 
half of the "cinnamon-toast"? For Creoles concoct 
quaint comestibles. 

At Galatoire's, The Louisiane, or Antoine's, one 
gets the best meal in the world ; better even than any- 
where in France. "Meal," however, is a coarse mis- 
nomer for it ; New Orleans administers food as a sac- 
rament, so that to say grace comes natural. Results 
are not always salubrious, but it is worth a pinch of 
indigestion, to say nothing of the tip, to be nursed and 
coddled and escorted through a meal by that precious 
old animated netsuke, Frangois, with his wonderful 
smile. He used to "attend" at the Louisiane, until 
they descended to vulgar American dishes; Antoine's 
is of unsullied splendour, like dear old Frangois. Al- 
ways, in going to New Orleans, I try to save up 
enough money for one visit to Antoine's, and .after 
that I go to Galatoire's. 

Mayor Buehrmann, however (another American 
of German descent), served a War lunch at the New 
Orleans War Conference that combined delicacy and 
deliciousness, parsimony and patriotism, simplicity 
and elegance, to a degree that can never be surpassed. 
It was Hooverised throughout; with a meatless ptdce 
de resistance, the biscuits wheatless, syrups supplant- 
ing the sugar pot, and "fats: just enough" — but dainty 
enough for Diana, substantial enough for a German, 
and costing just twenty-five cents ! The French thing 
I mentioned a moment ago was Gumbo-aux-herbes, 
containing hidden fat shrimps; the crisp biscuits were 



"DOWN SOUTH": FARTHER DIXIE 81 

made of the finest potato-flour; and, best of all, the 
lunch was made up and served by a cooking-class of 
girls, schooled at the city's expense in conservation 
as they qualify in Home Economics. 

Louisiana busied herself with food-preparation for 
the War long before the Council was organised. A 
"food preparedness commission," directed by Harry 
D. Wilson and Professor W. R. Dodson, spread to all 
the parishes of the State the new farm gospel of which 
John M. Parker has been the bright particular evangel. 
Ten years ago it was believed throughout the country 
that Louisiana, famous for her rice and sugar crops, 
could never raise corn or hogs ; that she must forever 
buy *'hog and hominy" from the West. Mr. Parker, 
believing otherwise, formed corn clubs among the 
boys throughout the State. There are now three mil- 
lion boys in the corn clubs, and Louisiana grows fifty 
miUion bushels of corn. The pig clubs are only five 
years old, but boys now have blooded swine in every 
parish, whereas the only porcine product of Louisiana 
in former years was the "razor back," whose peculiar 
efficiency was supposed to reside in the fact that he 
could "outrun a nigger." 

A few years ago the Federal Department of Agri- 
culture said that wheat could never be grown in Louisi- 
ana except "as of necessity an uncertain crop." Mr. 
Parker now has a wheat farm averaging 30^4 bushels 
to the acre, while Mr. Clarence Ellerbe gets on his 
plantation an average of forty-three bushels, as against 
the old average for the country at large of fourteen! 
Boys' wheat clubs are now being organised, supported 



82 THE NATION AT WAR 

by the Council of Defense, and there is a lusty Boys* 
Baby-Beef Club two years old. Registered bulls are 
coming into Louisiana from all of the great beef and 
milk producing States, and the livestock industry 
promises to become one of the most prosperous. I 
heard Mr. Parker tell the Farmers* Union at their 
great meeting in New Orleans that they had no busi- 
ness bragging about a "four-gallon cow"; that up 
in Michigan he had recently seen sixty-odd cows 
averaging seven gallons apiece, and that if they would 
visit him out at St. Francisville he would show them 
samples of the same milk-producing kine on his own 
farm. 

I shall never forget the preliminary meeting of the 
Louisiana Council of Defense, in the old St. Charles 
Hotel in New Orleans. Governor Pleasant, young 
and intelligently patriotic, presided. Before him, an 
honoured member of the Council, sat John M. Parker, 
whom he had just defeated. Two former Governors, 
Blanchard and Hall, were also there; every political 
faction forgotten in devotion to the one great cause. 
Besides, every interest in the State was notably well 
represented. The largest lumber dealer in the world 
and the largest rice producer — a Polish immigrant who 
began as a peddler and who now grows two-and-a-half 
million bushels annually — are examples; and organ- 
ised labour was there. It was a magnificent body of 
men; touched not only with lingering French grace 
and dignity, but quietly impassioned also with love 
for the gallant tri-colour as well as for the star-span- 
gled banner. 



•^DOWN SOUTH": FARTHER DIXIE 83 

The organisation meeting at Baton Rouge, a fort- 
night later, was no less impressive. Miss Hilda Phelps 
(now Mrs. Hammond) was there— deserving infinite 
credit for the superb women' s-work of the State. 
It was in connection with the question of the registra- 
tion of women that the most interesting discussion 
arose, revolving around the somewhat heated point of 
the registration of coloured women as well as white. 
Had this question been settled off-hand affirmatively, 
it would not warrant special attention. Its signifi- 
cance lies in the fact that it was settled affirmatively- 
after a thorough discussion of the subject in all of its 
phases. Some of the most thrilling and touching ad- 
dresses to which I have listened in a long time were 
made by white-haired Southern gentlemen of the old 
school, pleading with the Council to give proper rec- 
ognition to the ''humble but earnest" efforts of the 
Negroes to show their patriotism during the War. A 
new era is coming to pass in the South. The sting 
of Reconstruction has been healed by the passage of 
time, and it is most heartening to see concrete and 
positive evidences of the generous attitude of former 
slave-owning families toward their coloured fellow- 
citizens; not in the mere relationship of employer to 
employee, but in far more important relationships, 
where the principle. Noblesse oblige, appears to con- 
trol. 

Mississippi I visited three times, addressing the leg- 
islature once and also addressing the State War Con- 
ference in the spacious legislative chamber, both 
houses attending. It was on this latter occasion that 



B4 THE NATION AT WAR 

I derived as great satisfaction as I have ever had in 
public speaking anywhere. Feeling that I could not 
conscientiously speak and ignore Vardaman, whose 
disloyalty was just then notorious, and yet desirous 
to observe the proprieties, I said (quoting from mem- 
ory) : 

"I am going to be frank and tell you that in some 
parts of the country I hear Mississippi's loyalty ques- 
tioned. Understand, I do not question it, but here 
and there I do find it called into question. Why? Is 
it because you allow yourselves to be misrepresented? 
Do you tolerate in any public forum anywhere any 
official spokesman who damages the good name of 
your whole State by flouting the War? Of course/' 
I added, "I do not allude to that great and gifted 
Senator, John Sharp Williams." 

That was enough. Pandemonium broke loose, as 
a young reporter might say. I had not expected an 
outburst of approval; I had only sought, by some sort 
of oblique denunciation, to clear my own conscience 
without violating the political proprieties. When the 
prolonged tumult of applause had died down I said: 

"If that be politics, then make the most of it.'' 
(Vardaman was up for re-election.) "Remember," I 
went on, "that, after all, you are responsible for your 
misrepresentatives. Remember that you have it with- 
in your power, if there is any 'political prima-donna' 
from Mississippi who is singing off-key, either to make 
him change his tune or else stop singing altogether !" 

Then the tumult broke out again, and it lasted even 
longer than before. The "red-necks" were there, too, 



"DOWN SOUTH": FARTHER DIXIE 85 

as Vardaman's baci»voods supporters are humorously 
called. It was to me a keen satisfaction to go into 
this demagogue's stronghold and find the people ready 
to welcome denunciation of his stand on the War. The 
Nation indeed is at war against those who assail from 
within, as well as without, the cause for which it is 
fighting. 

In Alabama, the boll-weevil missionary has aided 
the agricultural educators in securing diversification 
of crops. For the boll-weevil has *'played hob" with 
Alabama cotton. Montgomery, formerly the "ban- 
ner county" of the State, used to produce 45»ooo bales 
annually ; last year it produced only 7,800 bales. But 
the people rejoice in the fact that Alabama is now 
feeding herself ; and, in so far as the boll-weevil con- 
tributed to this result, he is nothing less than a bless- 
ing in disguise. The Alabama Council of Defense, 
although late in "getting down to business," is now 
giving a good account of itself. 

I visited Georgia oftener than any other State — 
seven times; and secured less net results than in any. 
The last time I was there, at the dismal "War Con- 
ference" in Atlanta, the Governor introduced me as 
"the father of the Georgia State Council of Defense." 
I fear I was not wholly gracious in replying that I 
was not very proud of my offspring, but I certainly 
was truthful. The women, under Mrs. Sam Inman, 
have done excellent work from the beginning, but the 
men in Georgia who seem to be most outspoken and 
influential about the War are such blatherskites as 
Senator Hardwick and Tom Watson. Georgia has 



86 THE NATION AT WAR 

been a State of great men. In the more recent years 
of her history one has only to recall Ben H. Hill, 
John B. Gordon, Henry W. Grady. What is the mat- 
ter with Georgia to-day ? I confess I don't know. The 
same rare hospitality is there, as of old ; nowhere was 
I more royally entertained; but hospitality will not 
win the War.^ 

*The attention of the Georgia Council of Defense is respect- 
fully directed to the general observations on page iia. 



CHAPTER VII 



"up north" : NEW ENGLAND 



NEW ENGLAND I visited for the Council of 
National Defense several times during the winter of 
191 7, in connection with the War Emergency Em- 
ployment Service. The Council co-operated with the 
Department of Labour in endeavouring to extend to 
all the States effective systems of labour exchange such 
as those established by the independent initiative of 
Ohio and Pennsylvania. While the shipyard emer- 
gency provided the acute occasion for this undertak- 
ing, the plans were sufficiently comprehensive to take 
care of all needful war work. New England was 
chosen to begin in, both because of the large number 
of shipyards and munition plants within its territory, 
and also because its compactness afforded a good 
opportunity to "try out" a zone system of labour 
exchanges. 

Everybody is familiar with the ordinary labour ex- 
change, operated privately for profit. That for house- 
hold servants is the most common, but the large cities 
have many for supplying industrial plants, although 
these latter now commonly operate their own ex- 
changes. Some of the most progressive States have 

87 



88 THE NATION AT WAR 

made labour exchanges a part of the machinery of the 
commonwealth. 

The chief cause of labour shortages is not an ab- 
solute deficiency of labour, but lack of facility in dis- 
tributing it from points of over-supply to the seats 
of acute need. By the establishment of zone ex- 
changes, Vermont, for example, can lend large bodies 
of workers to relieve Massachusetts in some indus- 
trial emergency, and Massachusetts will also be ready 
to help Vermont harvest her crops. 

The chief weakness of the ordinary labour exchange 
has arisen from failure to examine and classify mate- 
rial. For example, Fore River calls for several hun- 
dred anglesmiths. An unassorted body of men, un- 
der the old humpty-dumpty arrangement, would be 
dumped into Fore River, whose managers and fore- 
men, after costly waste in time and experiment, would 
be likely to find that only a few of the applicants could 
be used. This rejection in turn reacts unfavourably 
on the workingman, who finds himself out of a job 
at the end of tedious days of waiting. There are nu- 
merous cases in which a turnover of several thousand 
workingmen has been necessary to secure a few hun- 
dred fitted to their jobs. 

It is perfectly feasible for the labour exchange 
itself so to examine and classify its human material 
as to send to the seat of demand only labourers well 
qualified for the undertaking in hand. 

It is also feasible for "industrial Plattsburgs," such 
as the famous shipbuilding school at Newport News, 
Virginia, to convert relatively unskilled labour in a 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 89 

very short time into skilled workmen earning good 
wages. Thus an ordinary house-carpenter, trained in- 
tensively for a brief period in beveling, becomes a 
ship-carpenter; or a blacksmith, trained to swing both 
arms instead of one, becomes an anglesmith. There 
are at least eighty-eight ordinary and relatively un- 
remunerative vocations from which men can be speed- 
ily transformed into shipbuilders. 

Connecticut was the first State I visited in New 
England, arriving at Hartford in time to attend a 
most interesting meeting of manufacturers assembled 
to hear Sir Stephenson Kent (November 7, 1917). 
To listen to this great Englishman describe the results 
obtained in Great Britain by the application of gov- 
ernmental firmness, fairness, and foresight to labour 
problems occasioned by the War, was to realise witl; 
dismay what a chasm divides the labour policies of 
our overseas cousins from the chaotic conditions that 
have existed here. I remember Sir Stephenson's say- 
ing that if England had had one-eighth of the labour 
troubles from which the United States has suffered, 
she would have had to conclude a disgraceful peace 
with Prussia long ago. 

Public opinion, according to this great leader, is 
the giant compulsive force that in England brings the 
would-be strikers back to work. Trades unions, he 
furthermore declared, had been of the greatest pos- 
sible assistance to the Government in overcoming in- 
dustrial resistance to the War. 

I was particularly struck with the figures given 
by Sir Stephenson Kent to show the participation of 



SK) THE NATION AT WAR 

Englishwomen in practical and indeed essential war 
work. Women in munitions industries alone had in- 
creased since the outbreak of hostilities seven hun- 
dred per cent, and men fifty per cent. When a woman 
or unskilled worker supplants a regular worker in 
England, discontent is allayed by promoting the lat- 
ter to a better position immediately. The laws are 
so organised and administered, moreover, as to pro- 
tect working people against high costs of living. A 
British farmer who had recently sold potatoes at too 
high a price had been promptly fined $25,000! 

At the very beginning of the War a law was passed 
in England declaring strikes illegal and punishing 
with life imprisonment any one who incited to a 
strike. "By itself," says Mr. Burton J. Hendrick^ 
in describing English labour conditions, "such a dras- 
tic law would have made a desperate situation even 
more desperate. But this same law gave the Minister 
of Munitions (there is as yet no such of^cer in Amer- 
ica) power to control munition factories — to operate 
them if necessary — and limited the profits of manu- 
facturers to one- fifth more than the average of the 
two years preceding the war. The unions agreed, on 
their part, to accept the wages existing at the time of 
the agreement with a proviso to increase them, if nec- 
essary, three times a year, in accordance with the in- 
creased cost of living. These increases are paid, not 
by the manufacturers, but by the national exchequer. 
In consideration of these conditions, the unions aban- 
doned, for the duration of the war, all the union re- 
*In Collier's Weekly. 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 91 

strictions — limitation of output and apprentices, em- 
ployment of women, etc. — the understanding being 
that, when the war is finished, the old unionization 
standards shall automatically be revived. — This agree- 
ment settled the labour problem in England and en- 
abled England to pile up the enormous war materials 
that are now doing such service. Precisely this sys- 
tem might not succeed here, but we shall have to 
adopt some scheme that will produce the same result." 

During the present year a War Labour Policy 
Board has been appointed by the President to co- 
operate with the Department of Labour in carrying 
into effect the labour programme prepared by the 
Council of National Defense.^ We are still very far, 
however, from a practical working agreement such as 
that which has just been described. Temporary ex- 
pedients, instead of a carefully planned and firmly exe- 
cuted policy, are the scaffolding on which our great 
industrial undertakings uneasily rest. 

It is refreshing, therefore, to know that in the 
matter of the Employment Service, at least, we are 
beginning to substitute well ordered machinery for 
haphazard opportunism. A report just received from 
Connecticut declares that the most interesting phase 
of the entire work of that model State Council is the 
readjustment of the labour power of the State to 
meet the emergent demands of the munitions factories, 
food growers, and other essential war industries. 
Just here let it be noted that in Connecticut the vital 
necessity of supplying farmers with competent help 

*See p. 50. 



92 THE NATION AT WAR 

is recognised as at least equally important with mu- 
nitions, on the practical ground that men must be fed 
or they can't fight; and so, in regard to labour, Con- 
necticut's key-note ideas of efficiency stand out in Fed- 
eral Director Korper's insistence on unity of purpose, 
direct responsibility, and adequate authority to secure 
results in production and delivery. The Govern- 
ment's plan for a State Advisory Board and for local 
Community Boards, with competent members from 
both employers and employed, provides for full and 
fair representation of all interests concerned; so that 
when it comes to carrying out the policies and plans 
agreed upon, — for recruiting, placing, and moving la- 
bour, and transferring men from less essential to 
the most essential industries, — Director Korper and 
his counsellors make effective appeals for loyal serv- 
ice, being remarkably successful in securing the enthu- 
siastic co-operation of all concerned, with the backing 
of a solid public sentiment. 

There are now eight branches of the United States 
Employment Service in Connecticut, with central of- 
fices at Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Water- 
bury, Meriden, Stamford, New London, Willimantic; 
and through these offices labour is placed in the essen- 
tial war industries. The United States Public Service 
Reserve, which is undertaking the great task of trans- 
ferring labour from lesser essentials to war work, has 
established fourteen recruiting agencies in Connecti- 
cut, with central offices at Hartford, New Haven, 
Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Britain, Stamford, An- 
sonia, Middletown, Norwich, New London, Williman- 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 93 

tic, Torrington, Rockville, and Danielson. Each office 
of the Employment Service has a superintendent, and 
each station of the Public Reserve is in charge of an 
organiser. The Reserve Organiser's duty is to se- 
cure at once complete and accurate data concerning 
every worker in non-essential or less-essential indus- 
tries in his district, and to lodge this information with 
the Employment Service. Both of these branches are 
under the direction of Federal Director Korper, and 
the big work of enlisting and placing the man-power 
of the State where it is needed to be most effective in 
the great cause, is now going on with efficiency and 
despatch. 

In a recent address Mr. N. A. Smyth^ acting as the 
Assistant Director General of the United States Em- 
ployment Service, laid down as follows the four fun- 
damental principles on which the Service must build 
itself up: 

First, that war work must have the men it needs 
at any cost. The war work of this country has got 
to have the workers. That may mean the closing of 
industries which are not essential to war. It may 
mean sacrifice and loss to man after man, but never- 
theless war work has got to have the men, because 
without the workers we can't win the war, and we are 
going to win the war. It means something, too, in 
our own relationship to it. It means that excuses 
on our part won't go. It means that when we have 
the task of equipping a plant with workers, we have 
got to equip it, and it doesn't make any difference 
how good the reasons or how good the excuses are 
why we can't do it. Of what value are the best 



94 THE NATION AT WAR 

reasons and excuses going to be to our children if this 
country doesn't win the war? 

The second is that in forcing the country and in- 
dustry to make releases of men that are necessary we 
must at every step try to keep the burden, as between 
localities and industries, just as fairly divided as we 
can; we must not levy it all on one set of employers; 
we must not be unfair as between individual em- 
ployers; we must equalize the burden. 

The third fundamental principle upon which the 
work of this department is based is that, although all 
the force of the Government, if necessary, is going 
to be applied to make industry give up the necessary 
workers, we are going to stick to the volunteer prin- 
ciple when it comes to dealing with the individual 
worker. 

And the fourth principle is one that we must re- 
member everywhere and practice, that we have got to 
put fit men into war industries. You are not doing 
any good if you just fill up your reports with large 
numbers of men you have directed to war plants. 
You only do good if you send men to those plants who 
are fit to work there. In every step you take remem- 
ber that the question of the fitness of the individual 
sent is of the highest importance. To send men unfit 
for the work, or men who won't stay, or men who are 
disloyal, or men who haven't ability, is an offense 
against the war industry of this country. 

Connecticut has been notably prompt in meeting all 
her responsibilities in the Great War. The State Coun- 
cil of Defense, co-operating with the National Council, 
was organised in April, 191 7, and Governor Marcus 
Holcomb took the unique step of securing a complete 
census of the man-power of the State, in order to be 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 95 

ready for a quick mobilisation of the industrial re- 
sources as well as military. Through the co-operation 
of the towns each male citizen of the State was called 
upon to fill out a detailed blank, telling just what he 
could do to help. There was quick and universal re- 
sponse, with a grand total of no less than 503,cxx3 
cards, which are now on file at the State Library, and 
from which, by means of tabulating machines, a com- 
plete and accurate list of the men in any particular 
occupation can be secured in a very short time. These 
lists have proved invaluable in helping Connecticut 
organise her civilian forces for the War. 

The key-note in Connecticut has been unity in or- 
ganisation, definite leadership, clear responsibility; 
with the result that the State has "done things" and 
is doing them right along, in co-operation with ''Uncle 
Sam," in a manner that has won very cordial com- 
mendation from Washington. The members of the 
State Council of Defense have been constant and ac- 
tive in comprehensive plans and have taken care to 
choose competent sub-committees that would work. 
The State Council meets at the Capitol every Monday, 
and some epoch-making sessions have been held. The 
various sub-committees, as on food, fuel, labour, san- 
itation, industrial survey, finance, are in constant 
touch, and make their plans in full co-operation, while 
the people of the entire State stand solidly back of 
the activities of the Council. 

Particularly noticeable among the many activities 
of this truly great Council is its excellent publicity 
system. For example, knock-down bulletin boards 



96 THE NATION AT WAR 

(costing three dollars apiece) have been posted all 
over the State — not only in the i68 municipalities that 
make up this commonwealth of towns, but at all the 
crossroads of rural districts. They emblazon these 
boards with such graphic educational material as our 
poster, *'The Prussian Blot." The National Council 
has sent 340,000 copies of this poster throughout 
the country, and has more for proper distribution. 
Andre Cheradame wrote for the Atlantic Monthly 
erudite articles on the Pan-Germanic scheme; and 
he has shown that at present Germany has realised 
nine-tenths of her ambitious dream, to say nothing of 
the potential domination of Russia. Our people at 
large, however, do not read *'high-brow" articles; and 
it is exceedingly difficult to explain by word of mouth 
to popular audiences just what the "Prussian Blot'* 
means. You can do it, however, with a poster, and 
Connecticut has lit up the land with these posters, 
which any man or woman can comprehend in five min- 
utes. It is a plan that ought to be widely copied 
throughout the Nation; for, when once our people 
realise the world domination threatened by the present 
war-map of Germany, they will show scant patience 
to any movement for an inconclusive peace, because 
they will know that a peace without victory is a yellow 
peace for which our sons will have to pay the price 
of our cowardice. 

The Community Councils are organised to carry 
forward this process of popular education. We 
Americans are all "from Missouri"; we have got to 
be shown. But we can be shown. What we have 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 97 

got to do is to take the remarkable ''Red, White and 
Blue'' books, prepared by Dr. Guy Stanton Ford, of 
the Committee on Public Information, and get them 
into the hands of communities assembled in the school- 
houses. Certainly every leader ought to possess at 
least that remarkable volume, "Conquest and Kultur," 
and put it into the hands of the people. When once 
they pass the facts and principles of this War through 
the mills of their minds, this stuff will come out as 
the grist of patriotic nourishment, and we shall have 
behind our effort the push of a determined intelligence 
that will not relax until the Allies have crossed the 
Rhine and the German military despotism is forever 
despoiled of its chance to destroy the peace of the 
world. If it had been possible for the Administra- 
tion to act when the Lusitania was sunk, the emotions 
of our people would have been engaged, but that was 
not possible ; consequently, we have had to substitute 
an intellectual process, which is slow and exceedingly 
difficult But it can be done; and in this crisis we 
are reaping the benefit of popular education; for I 
can testify that the American people are getting hold 
of essential facts with astonishing rapidity, and that 
it is like taking a thermometer out of the cellar into 
the sunlight to travel through the land and observe the 
rise of our civilian morale. 

Maine was the only New England State I failed to 
visit— the State whose Council of Defense has recently 
developed an admirable scheme for dealing with ship- 
yard slackers. 

Going from Hartford to Boston in behalf of the 



98 THE NATION AT WAR 

War Employment Service last winter, I found a large 
group of the big men of Massachusetts literally giving 
up all of their time to the Committee on Public Safety, 
as they call their defense council there. With offices 
under the old gilded dome of the State House, men of 
affairs whose names are "names to conjure with" in 
the Bay State work day in and day out to keep Massa- 
chusetts mobilised for the War, having turned over 
their own business interests into other hands. Here, 
as in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island, 
I found: first, an insistence "to be shown"; and then 
the most alert and intelligent endeavour to respond to 
advices from Washington. The description of the 
Connecticut War Employment Service exemplifies 
what is being done throughout New England. 

In the very month that we entered the War, Massa- 
chusetts led New England in a joint undertaking of 
great value to Old England, and of picturesque inter- 
est to everybody. Learning that the historic forests 
of England and Scotland were being sawed into lum- 
ber for essential uses on the Western front, and aware 
that American sawing machinery is greatly superior to 
that of Europe, the descendants of the Pilgrims sent 
overseas ten saw-mill units, accompanied by 360 
"officers" and men, with 120 horses, to operate them. 
Following is the tabulated list: 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 99 

10 portable mills and equipment, . . $46,848 38 

Horses and equipment, 43>^59 7^ 

Logging camp equipment, 25,725 13 

Millmen and woodsmen, . . . . . 7,797 30 

Packing and storage, 1,813 31 

Passport expense, 621 60 

Transportation, 1,412 cx) 

Miscellaneous, 1,298 82 

Total, $129,176 25 

Perhaps it is worth while to record the text ot the 
cable message sent by the committee to a representa- 
tive of the British government tendering the gift of 
these saw-mill units. 

April 23, 1917. 
Understanding skilled lumbermen needed in Eng- 
land to supply timber for forces in France, New Eng- 
land gladly offers its services to Old England in 
assembling men and material for ten complete work- 
ing portable saw-mill units, all to be shipped from 
Boston, each unit to consist of thirty experienced men 
with portable saw mill, ten suitable horses, harnesses, 
wagons, saws, axes, other tools and camp equipment 
ready for business on landing, men all civilian volun- 
teers with capable man in general charge. The cost 
of the portable mill, horses and all equipment, includ- 
ing freight and other expenses, to steamer side, about 
and not over $10,000 per unit. Wages per month 
per unit about $2,000. Have not yet consulted lum- 
ber companies because not certain English government 
would desire these outfits, but sure New England 
would want to contribute five of these outfits delivered 
at steamer side. We assume if desired English gov- 
ernment could arrange space on steamer sailing from 



100 THE NATION AT WAR 

Boston. We prefer men and outfits all on same 
steamer. 

The official reply of the British government to this 
tender was received from the British Ambassador at 
Washington in the following letter : — 

British Embassy, Washington, D. C, 
May 1 6, 191 7. 
I have received a telegram from the foreign office 
stating that the war office accept with gratitude your 
generous offer of ten complete saw -mill units for work 
in England. The war office request me to convey to 
you an expression of their high appreciation of the 
very welcome co-operation of the New England States 
in this matter; and I wish to add a word of personal 
thanks to the gentlemen who initiated a movement of 
such immense practical importance to the successful 
prosecution of the great struggle in which our two 
nations are so happily united. 
I have the honor to be, sir. 

Your obedient servant, 

Cecil Spring-Rice. 

Besides notable pioneer work in food and fuel ad 
ministration, the mobilisation of school boys for farm' 
service, and extraordinary achievements in the settle^ 
ment of strikes, Massachusetts had accomplished by 
the close of 191 7 many temporary activities in advance 
of proper organisation by the Government for War 
preparedness. "Trucks and motor cars have been 
listed," said the Committee's report, "and several com- 
plete units of specially qualified men prepared iot 
mobilisation in the Quartermaster's Department of the 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND lOX 

United States Army. A plan for emergency help and 
equipment has been completed. The efforts of vari- 
ous patriotic societies have been co-ordinated in part 
under the Red Cross and in part under the supervision 
of the Safety Committee. The general problem of 
hygiene, medicine, and sanitation has been considered 
and met, and an industrial survey made in co-opera- 
tion with the United States government to enable a 
fuller participation and a larger output of materials 
needed for the prosecution of the war. The purchas- 
ing department organised by the Safety Committee 
was a large factor in securing the necessary military 
equipment and supplies both for the National Guard 
Regiments and for the newly created State Guard. 
Publicity and education in patriotism have not been 
neglected. Through the co-operation of many for- 
eign-born but patriotic American citizens the work of 
patriotic assimilation and Americanisation has been 
going forward. The stirring war messages of the 
President have been translated into many languages 
and widely circulated. Meetings have been held in 
various parts of the State not only to educate and 
inspire citizens in performing their concrete duties, 
like garden planting, bond buying and the like, but 
also to instil the larger patriotism which is necessary 
for a clear view and a triumphant ending of the war. 
Co-operation with the Boy Scouts has been undertaken 
as a method of introducing boys to the farm and in- 
creasing home patriotism. The closest relationship 
has existed with the National Council of Women in 
all their many activities and successful work in con- 



102 THE NATION AT WAR 

serving the resources of Massachusetts. Fortunately 
there has been no need of putting in use concentra- 
tion camps for ahens, but the field was gone over by 
an adequate committee and plans prepared to meet 
such a contingency. The Safety Committee' early 
became a factor in the organisation of the Coast 
Patrol and Naval Reserves. For many months the 
offices of the committee were a clearing house for 
recruits for naval training and aviation. One of the 
first things done by the Safety Committee upon its 
organisation was to lay a clear plan for the transpor- 
tation of troops and supplies within the State from 
point to point. Thianks to the co-operation of the rail- 
road systems all this work has been effectively accom- 
plished." 

Until going to the New Hampshire Concord (pro- 
nounced Konk'-erd up there, whereas in my native 
State we call a town of the same name Con-cord), I 
had never seen a real interior New England town, al- 
though more or less familiar with the cities. I felt 
myself greatly puzzled, the moment I stepped off the 
train, with the feeling of being perfectly at home. 
The Yankee rustic with his buckboard at the station, 
the village green, the neat and thrifty homes, all 
seemed strangely familiar. Then I recalled that the 
same feeling had possessed me on first visiting London 
and England, and had greatly puzzled me there, until 
I had reflected that as a child I was saturated with 
Dickens. So here — had I not grown up on The 
Youth's Companion? In both cases it was a singular 
tribute to the ineradicable influences of literature on 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 103 

the plastic mind of childhood. Coming into an actu- 
alisation, at length, of the imaginative scenes of early- 
youth, we feel like wanderers returned home, although 
our fleshly eyes look for the first time on novel yet 
singularly familiar surroundings. 

Whether I owe it to The Youth's Companion and 
the boys' books of J. T. Trowbridge I cannot after all 
be sure, but certain it is that New England has for 
me, a stranger, a charm of cozy contentment, and a 
feeling of being at home, that I have never felt more 
strongly anywhere. 

My chief opportunities to enjoy New England came 
on two occasions after I had resigned from the Coun- 
cil of National Defense. Going by request of 
Director Gifford to his home town, Salem, to make an 
address on war work for which he had not the time, 
I spent a day rambling through the House of Seven 
Gables, with its witch-stairways and other weird oddi- 
ties — exploring the alcoves of curios in the wonderful 
Marine Museum, and then meeting real American 
people out on the greensward at Femcroft, that makes 
up one of those rare days in memory like some golden 
picture from a dream. 

Most delightful of all my field agent's year, how- 
ever, was the journey through New England, with 
Perigord, as the guest of the Connecticut Council, in 
the last days of a shimmering July. I did not know 
the "reason" for the trip until, on returning to Hart- 
ford from three days of unalloyed pleasure, I found 
the following rollicking explanation in the daily 
Times: 



/ 

104 THE NATION AT WAR 

Dr. Scherer and Compensation Commissioner 
George B. Chandler of Hartford accompanied Lieu- 
tenant Perigord in a speaking and organizing tour 
through the Rocky mountains and Pacific coast States 
last May. Mr. Chandler is president of the Hartford 
Automobile club, and thinks that the sun of motoring 
and scenic supremacy rises and sets in New England. 
Dr. Scherer, who is president of the Throop College 
of Technology at Pasadena, California, is likewise an 
enthusiastic motorist, and, like all Southern Califor- 
nians, a "booster" of his section. While killing time 
on sleeping cars and about hotels on the western trip, 
neither Mr. Chandler nor Dr. Scherer showed any of 
the qualities of the shrinking violet in portraying the 
virtues of their respective localities. This "boosting" 
contest afforded much amusement to Lieutenant Peri- 
.gord and Dr. Guy Stanton Ford, dean of the graduate 
school of the University of Minnesota, who was the 
fourth member of the party. 

When they got to Los Angeles Dr. Scherer gave 
his guests a demonstration and now Mr. Chandler, 
through the good offices of Captain Wickham, whom 
he succeeded as president of the Auto club, is giving 
a counter demonstration. The French lieutenant is 
apparently to be the umpire. 

"The fact is," said Mr. Chandler, "that Scherer 
nearly turned our hair white in Southern California. 
He slipped on ahead from Albuquerque, New Mexico, 
and when we arrived from Phoenix, Arizona, he met 
us at the Los Angeles depot with a high-powered car 
and a chauffeur ^ who drove as though he hadn't been 
in captivity more than three weeks. He whirled us 
by Fox City and Universal City and the Lord knows 
how many more cities, until the whole flower-laden 
country seemed to be a moving picture. Then, the 

'Both lent by that ever thoughtful friend H. M. R. 



"UP NORTH": NEW ENGLAND 105 

first thing I knew, we were reeling around the curves 
and whizzing up the grades of Lookout Mountain. 

*'Scherer, of course, didn't tell us that we were on 
a one-way road, and that chauffeur wasn't tame 
enough to talk. Down one side it would be a sheer 
five hundred or a thousand feet; up the other side 
ditto. I remember one hairpin turn so sharp that it 
couldn't be negotiated without backing. Wild Bill 
took those blind curves like a New York taxi driver 
catching a train for a two dollar bonus. Every time 
we shot around one of them I expected to be cata- 
pulted through the landscape by head-on collision. 

*'The lieutenant smiled quizzically. I laughed in a 
ghastly manner, and poor Ford couldn't even make a 
bluff at it. Scherer's face was an amused enigma. 
The one-way sign at the top of the mountain ac- 
quitted the chauffeur of downright insanity, and we 
breathed a bit easier as the big machine careened 
around the curves and smoked down the grades on the 
other side. Now that it's all over LU admit that the 
doctor scored heavily that day. The roads were good 
and the view of Los Angeles, Catalina and the Pacific 
was magnificent. So, too, was all the wonderful coun- 
try in and about Los Angeles and Pasadena. 

*'This trip is my innings. John Haynes, with his 
Vanderbilt Cup record, and Captain Wickham's car 
are a combination New England won't have to apolo- 
gise for. We Yankees may be effete, decadent and 
all that sort of thing, but we don't propose to be 
shown up by Southern California before our distin- 
guished French guest. 

"Really, though, Dr. Scherer's country is unique. I 
recall it as a sort of dreamland. It is not like any- 
thing else in America. So, too, is the Columbia river 
Highway, at Portland, Oregon, grand and inspiring. 
But there is a reposeful beauty and sophisticated 



106 THE NATION AT WAR 

grandeur about our New England motoring country 
that has no American counterpart. We also have our 
New England highways. If you doubt it ask Lieu- 
tenant Perigord when we get back. Dr. Scherer, of 
course, is incorrigible." 

Before beginning my "war speech" at Hartford I 
mentioned this story in The Times, which had greeted 
us on our return; and then said, as I recalled that 
wonderful parallel series of valleys verdured by 
brimming rivers and jeweled with homes, that the 
right word for New England is "homely" — not in the 
upstart modern meaning of this noble ancient word, 
of course — but fragrant with the very soul of Home. 

Let me now tell at length of that great Western 
journey with Perigord, Chandler, and Ford. 



CHAPTER VIII 

"out west": NEBRASKA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, 
CALIFORNIA, NEVADA 

"SPY!" I would cry to the supposititious stranger 
that has accompanied us thus far on our journeys, — 
"come with me out to the West, now, and let's see 
how the Kaiser cult is succeeding in the fields of its 
special adoption! How about Southern California, 
infested with spies? — or the far Northwest, with its 
massive propaganda? — or the Central West and its 
German-Americans? Let us see." 

Nebraska, perhaps, quite as much as any other State 
in the Union, had its disloyalty problem, on account 
of its large "hyphenate" population; and the way it 
was handled in one of the larger cities by Mayor 
Harms, a "de-hyphenated" American if ever there 
was one, furnishes an ideal example. At the Nebras- 
ka War Conference (where Mr. Gumey Newlin of 
Los Angeles kindly took my place) , this American of 
German nativity made a speech utterly without ora- 
tory, yet movingly eloquent. When America went 
into the War, he said, he locked himself in the house 
for three days, "to find himself — to try out the feel- 
ing that had not only been born and bred in him, but 
had also been further strengthened by education. At 

107 



108 THE NATION AT WAR 

the end of that time he knew that his teaching had 
been false, and that the salvation of the world de- 
pended upon the crushing forever of the Prussian idea 
and spirit"; and then — as the tears rolled down his 
cheeks : 

"This should be done by kindness, by education, by 
persuasion; but if it cannot be done that way, by jail; 
and to put the people of the same country as that of 
my birth in jail is hard for me, because I am afraid 
that they have not been able to see the light as I know 
it. But even though it may be hard, if they cannot 
be reached by kindness and education, they must be 
reached by force, which is what they have been ac- 
customed to; and in my city we have now no pro- 
German element, and have now no Pacifist element. 
Those that were pro-German have been educated by 
kindness or by force." 

That is perfect. It should stand permanently as 
one of the valuable "human documents" of this War. 
Certainly I should wish my friend the German spy to 
enclose it in his letter to his Kaiser! 

I crossed the continent nine times during my year 
of Government service, twice for the Industrial Ser- 
vice Department of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, 
three times for the College of which I am president, 
and four times for the Council of Defense. Far and 
away the most interesting of these trips was made in 
May, 1 91 8, attending a group of War Conferences 
in far western States, accompanied by George Brinton 
Chandler, of Connecticut, Dr. Guy Stanton Ford, of 



"OUT WEST'* 109 

the Committee on Public Information, and Lieutenant 
Paul Perigord, of the French Army. 

Our first War Conference was at Denver. I had 
already visited Colorado twice, once in the preceding 
September, for the National Council, and again in 
April, 1 91 8, for the Shipping Board, or Emergency 
Fleet Corporation. I knew what Colorado had done. 
It is a State singularly susceptible to damage by 
alien enemies. Its irrigation system comprises thirty- 
two reservoirs, each impounding more water than the 
famous Johnstown dam, one of them covering 250,000 
acres. The mountainous character of the State, 
moreover, necessitates an unusually large number of 
tunnels for the railroads, while the rich mines of the 
State, if undefended, would present a tempting bait 
to German dynamiters. 

Governor Gunter, whom I regard as one of the 
great War governors of the country, assembled a war 
council on the very night war was declared. The first 
man he thought of was L. G. Carpenter, a distin- 
guished irrigation engineer. With him he summoned 
to his office railroad presidents, telephone managers, 
mine directors, and other needful masters of emer- 
gency. Before the night was half spent all Colorado 
was on guard to avert potential danger! 

This was the beginning of the State Council of 
Defense, which has lived up to the signal night of its 
birth. It was temporarily financed to the extent of 
$12,000 by several of its members, who refused to 
receive a refund of their contributions after legisla- 
tive action had made this refund possible. One prac- 



110 THE NATION AT WAR 

tical patriot put up between $25,000 and $50,000 to 
purchase emergency seed for the farmers, and then 
"lost his day-book." 

Responding promptly to the call to arms, Colorado 
turned over to the Federal Government on October 
5, 191 7, more than four thousand soldiers, every man 
completely uniformed in conformity with Government 
requirements. These men had been given preliminary 
training, including setting-up exercises, so that they 
were physically fit for the more rigourous drill to 
come. Only seven per cent were rejected by the 
Federal inspector. This neat job cost the State half 
a million dollars. 

The State owed the militia $325,000 when war was 
declared. The Governor called on five members of 
his Council and raised, within an hour, $350,000 for 
the immediate payment of this debt, which the legisla- 
ture subsequently assumed. A medical rally was 
called and the physicians of the State thoroughly 
organized. In September, 191 7, I attended at Colo- 
rado Springs a state-wide rally of the Colorado Medi- 
cal Society, where Dr. A. C. Magruder, the president, 
delivered an address so full of **punch" for medical 
enlistment that one could but flinch by proxy for any 
of his unresponsive hearers. In the same manner 
the Governor lost no time in calling convocations of 
all county commissioners, all manufacturers, and — 
last, but by no means least — the State's leading news- 
paper men, some of whom spent from fifty to seventy- 
five dollars in order to answer his summons. 

Labor has received due consideration. William C. 



"OUT WEST'^ 111 

Thornton, Chairman of the Labor Committee of the 
Council, is president of the Denver Trade and Labor 
Union. John Lawson himself is on this committee, 
which has had the cordial co-operation also of Moyer, 
former associate of "Big Bill" Haywood. Through 
this committee the convicts of the State have all been 
used for war work, and the Governor believes in par- 
doning such as make good records. This labor com- 
mittee also engages the boys of the reform schools and 
Indian schools in emergency war work. 

Governor Gunter probably gives more personal at- 
tention to the work of his Council than any other Gov- 
ernor in the country. It meets every Tuesday after- 
noon in his office, and the occasions are rare when 
he is not in the chair, devoting half a day of each 
week to supervision of Council activities. 

The Governor, a Democrat, appointed Council 
members regardless of politics (as should always be 
done), and it happens that a majority are Republicans. 
For this he has been criticised when he should receive 
credit. Coming to the chair from the Supreme Court 
bench, he is a man of scholarly culture and delightful 
refinement of manner. His judicial temperament and 
training have not interfered with his practical ability 
to rise to the emergency of war. 

George B. Chandler was borrowed by the National 
Council from the Connecticut Council of Defence for 
our War Conference circuit of May, 1918, because of 
his ability as a speaker and also because of the ex- 
emplary character of the Connecticut Council, as al- 



112 THE NATION AT WAR 

ready described. In his report to me of this western 
tour Mr. Chandler said, very wisely : 

"The success or failure of a State Council of De- 
fense almost invariably rests with the Governor. A 
courageous, masterful Governor means an efficient 
Council of Defense. A timid, irresolute Governor 
means a weak and disjointed Council of Defense. 

"The character of a State Council of Defense is de- 
termined at the apex and at the base. At the top of 
the Council must be adequate funds for the creation 
of the necessary machinery. There must be enough 
money to provide offices, a competent manager, clerical 
help, stenographers, travelling expenses, and telephone 
service, proportionate to the magnitude of the enter- 
prise. At the bottom there must be a vigorous, healthy 
community organisation. This community organi- 
sation may assume various forms; e. g., in Connecti- 
cut, the Old New England township; in Utah, the 
^wards' and 'blocks' of the Mormon church organisa- 
tion; in other States either the school district, voting 
precinct, or some artificial unit carved out for war 
purposes. 

"It has been my observation that the county organi- 
sations, which constitute the middle strata of Councils 
of Defense, are the easiest to organise and usually in 
the most healthy condition. 

"Co-ordination of all the various war activities 
within or about the State Council of Defense and its 
subordinate parts is of primary importance. If the 
Council and its various arms are vigorous and efficient, 
this co-ordination comes about naturally and almost 
inevitably. Where they are a mere shell or blueprint, 
it is absurd to ask such well-financed and effectively 
organised institutions as the Red Cross, the Liberty 
Loan, and the Y. M. C. A. to co-ordinate with them 



"OUT WEST" 113 

or even co-operate with them. In other words, *To 
him that hath shall be given/ etc." 

Chandler agrees with me that Governor Gunter is 
"a man of scholarship, culture, courage, and ability." 
I dwell on this because Coloradans have not had the 
opportunity to judge their Governor, as we have, in 
comparison with the common run throughout the 
States. 

I shall never forgive him, however, for the scare 
he gave me on the night of that Denver mass meet- 
ing in May. With a brass-buttoned general or two 
he called for our party at the Brown Palace hotel 
with a big automobile just after we had finished our 
dinner. We had seen no signs of a mass meeting in 
the newspapers, and were afraid (after certain former 
experiences) that the publicity department had broken 
down. The Governor was very quiet, too; his man- 
ner was modest and subdued. Presently, moreover, 
when we reached the great turtle-shell of an audi- 
torium, the streets seemed entirely deserted — except, 
indeed, for triple rows of empty automobiles that we 
scarcely had time to observe. Our big car charged 
straight at the side of the turtle-back, when. Presto! 
two burly policemen swung back a pair of huge doors, 
and, without pause, our great car rolled in to the front 
of the platform. Everybody was inside! There 
were twelve thousand people present, waving flags 
and singing community songs to the bellow of a Gul- 
liver organ. We stepped from the car to the plat- 
form. I was to speak first — and to this multitude. 



114 THE NATION AT WAR 

who had come there to worship Paul Perigordf My 
imagination had not made me ready for this; I was 
used only to ordinary War Conferences. At least, I 
thought, the Governor will give me a chance of adjust- 
ment while he introduces me; but, no! a dozen words, 
and he threw me to the lions! 

I am an old hand at public speaking, and toughened 
to stage fright; but I was as scared as a California 
jack-rabbit when a new town dumps itself into the 
desert from the trolley-cars. Being scared, I did what 
the jack-rabbit does, speeded-up. The shorthand re- 
porters held an indignation meeting around my re- 
mains after the meeting, while the French and the 
Catholics in the audience were kissing Paul Peri- 
gord's sword — the sword of this Soul of France, 
whom we cannot honour too much. 

From Denver our party dropped southward, across 
the great Colorado plateau, to New Mexico. During 
this journey the brace of "tenderfeet" from the East 
began in their dull simple way to ogle and exclaim at 
the scenery. At this juncture I said : 

''Gentlemen, permit me to utter one word; then I 
shall have no more to say — Just wait till you see Cali- 
fornia!" 

Since no Calif orniac (and I proudly claim to be 
one) has ever been known to boast, I then placed my 
hand upon my mouth, and we got off the train at 
Albuquerque. 

For some reason or other, Washington had not re- 
ceived full reports from New Mexico. During ten 
minutes* conversation with an active member of the 



"OUT WEST" 115 

Council I picked up the following interesting informa- 
tion : 

Secretary McAdoo, passing through this famous 
stage-house, Albuquerque, on the best of all the great 
rail-highways from coast to coast, gave New Mexico 
officials with his own hands the first of the honour- 
flags to be distributed for the Third Liberty Bond 
undertaking. Their quota had been $739,000, and 
they raised $955,000. Ten counties comprising the 
tenth federal district exceeded their quota 215 per 
cent. In one county of 25,000 inhabitants five thou- 
sand people took bonds. The Santa Fe shop em- 
ployees at Albuquerque all took bonds — ^making a 
clean 100 per cent record. And I would introduce 
my Spy to the de-hyphenated lady residing in the town 
of Carlsbad, who put every dollar of her convertible 
property (six thousand dollars in all) into Liberty 

Bonds. 

The comparatively "poor" State of New Mexico 
is further markworthy for the large appropriation 
made by its legislature to the war work of the Council 
of Defense : $750,000 as against $40,000 for her huge 
neighbor to the East, and $100,000 for her rich col- 
league to the westward, California. This is doubtless 
due to a natural resentment over the following letter, 
preserved for us in that remarkable volume, "Out of 
Their Own Mouths," which consists of classic gems 
of Prussian "ideals" extending all the way down from 
Frederick the Great to Zimmermann the Little. 

Our national sense of humour should not blind us 
to the fact that this infamous despatch was meant in 



116 THE NATION AT WAR 

all seriousness. It was sent on January 19, 191 7, 
by Herr Zimmermann, German Imperial Secretary of 
State for Foreign Affairs, to the German Minister in 
Mexico. 

"On the 1st of February," whispered Herr Zim- 
mermann, never dreaming that Uncle Sam could over- 
hear, "we intend to begin unrestricted submarine war- 
fare. In spite of this, it is our intention to endeavour 
to keep the United States of America neutral. 

"If this attempt is not successful, we propose an 
alliance with Mexico on the following basis: That 
we shall make war together and together make peace. 
We shall give general financial support, and it is 
understood that Mexico is to reconquer the lost terri- 
tory in New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. The de* 
tails are left to you for settlement} 

"You are instructed to inform the President of 
Mexico of the above, in the greatest confidence, as 
soon as it is certain that there will be an outbreak of 
war with the United States, and to suggest that the 
President of Mexico, on his own initiative, should 
communicate with Japan suggesting adherence at once 
to this plan. At the same time he should offer to 
mediate between Germany and Japan. 

"Please call to the attention of the President of 
Mexico that the employment of ruthless submarine 
warfare now promises to compel England to make 
peace ?n a few months.'* 

*This sentence, italicized by the present writer, is one of the 
choicest bits of unintended humour in modern history. 



"OUT WEST" 117 

This was in January, 191 7. People who accuse 
President Wilson of a lack of humour should re- 
member how he used the Zimmermann letter. He 
kept it quiet until Bethmann-Hollweg had the unex- 
ampled audacity to harangue our own people, in our 
own newspapers, and also in the Hearst newspapers, 
against our own President. It was a lengthy and 
artful harangue, calculated to be very mischievous; 
written in a tone of deeply injured innocence, and pro- 
fessing profound friendship for the United States. 
The President never said a word, he simply published 
the Zimmermann letter — whereupon the Herren Zim- 
mermann and Hollweg, if one may use a homely 
American phrase to describe a homelier German farce, 
promptly "went away back and sat down" — hard. 

It was the publication of this Zimmermann letter 
that led my own boy to immediate decision. I remem- 
ber the little breakfast room in Pasadena, its blessed 
windows looking out through twin rows of Sentinel 
Palms toward the blue range of the Sierra Madre 
mountains; how I came in and found him, this lanky 
boy of nineteen, on the window-seat with the Los 
Angeles Times in his hand. 

"Father, is this true?" he asked me; and when my 
eyes had run down the page I said : 

"Of course it isn't true; it's an obvious forgery, and 
a very clumsy forgery at that. The Germans would 
be the last people in the world to send such a foolish 
despatch." 

When he came back from college in the evening he 
said that his German professor had also told them in 



118 THE NATION AT WAR 

the class-room that of course it wasn't true; but that 
if it were true, then he was done with the Prussians, 
bone of their bone though he be: they were Schwein- 
hunde! 

And shortly they had to confess it! *'Uncle Sam 
had the goods on them !'' 

Then the boy came again, with two questions: 

"Father, is there any chance of the Mexicans cross- 
ing the border and coming up here and attacking our 
homes?" 

"Not a chance in the world," said I, unabashed by 
my bad guess of the "forgery." 

"Well, is there any chance of the Japanese coming 
over and attacking our coasts?" 

Now, I had lived in Japan five years, — before the 
boy was born, — and I thought I knew the Japanese 
pretty nearly as well as Mr. Hearst does not know 
them, which is saying a very great deal. {The Los 
Angeles Examiner was flooding Southern California 
in those days with slimy falsehoods of Japanese 
knavery.) I saw how the boy's mind was working: 
he didn't intend going "over there" — of which he 
hadn't said a word to us yet — if there were to be real 
need "over here," defending his home folk; but I 
told him not to worry about Japan. And so he made 
his great decision, and went a-chasing Zimmermann 
submarines, this lad with a c in his name.^ 

*As I write, the following despatch concerning his ship ap- 
pears in The Washington Star: 

"LONDON, Aug. 7.— It is announced that the United States 
torpedo boat destroyer now holds the record in the United 



"OUT WEST" 119 

So our family remembers the Zimmermann note, 
just as New Mexico remembers it $750,000 worth. 
New Mexico is also doing a little Mexican propaganda 
of its own, now, by printing a large edition of the 
Council's "War News" in Spanish; and it is also shut- 
ting out the Hearst newspapers. 

New Mexico is spending a little of its large appro- 
priation in buying seeds for its ranchmen; in cultivat- 
ing really notable war-gardens; and in agrarian war- 
fare against predatory animals, which destroy five mil- 
lion dollars' worth of food-stuffs in New Mexico an- 
nually. The Council also has put up a war hospital 
in Albuquerque, to take care of sick soldiers passing 
through on the Santa Fe trains. Bernalillo county, 
of which Albuquerque is the seat, had independently 
contributed, when we were there, $42,000 to a War 
Chest. 

I closed my report from Albuquerque with the 
words: *1 go to Paradise tonight." One of my col- 
leagues, as I found on returning to Washington, put 
it this way: ''Scherer at this point felt the lure of 
Southern California strong upon him, and left us after 
the afternoon meeting. When I saw Pasadena, I 
understood why." 

A distinguished resident of Northern California 
told me, shortly after I went to reside in Southern 
California, that its chief characteristics are ''one- 
lungers" and climate. The climate does draw the 

States Navy for submarine chasing. Since arriving in European 

waters in April a year ago the has steamed over 74.ooo 

miles." 



120 THE NATION AT WAR 

"one-lungers" out there; then it makes them well, and 
they grow citrus fruits. They come to cough, and 
remain to spray the San Jose scale off the golden 
globes that are so easily convertible (in normal years) 
into good legal tender. This makes a fair combina- 
tion. Lazy people, **back East," never break down 
from overwork, so they stay where they belong. In 
the exuberant climate of Southern California, which 
even our envious enemies allow to us, the survivors 
of the fittest become entirely fit again, and so with our 
"one-lungers" and climate and a few other modest 
commodities we build up an eclectic community of 
Californiacs. But we never boast.^ Accordingly I 
shall not boast of the California State Council of De- 
fense.^ It is simple justice to remark, however, that 
the great Sacramento mass meeting was equal to any 
of the series, and that its pronounced success was 
largely due to community singing, without which no 
patriotic meeting is complete. 

From Sacramento our party went to Reno, an in- 
nocent looking mountain town bisected by the rushing 
Truckee River. We found Nevada organised one 
hundred per cent. A "barn-storming" campaign car- 
ried out under the leadership of a young and aggres- 
sive Governor had carried War facts home to every* 
cranny of the State. Perhaps Nevada thinks in too 

' To be perfectly honest about it, I regret to confess that 
this sentence is true only because for boasting we substitute 
"boosting" : a somewhat vulgar combination of boasting and 
booming, combining the evils of both. But the climate is help- 
ing us to conquer that zymotic disease, too! 

' See, however, p. 175 ff. 



"OUT WEST" 121 

light a vein of what we heard called "extra-legal treat- 
ment" for suspects of disloyalty. President Wilson, 
when we were there, had not yet issued his eloquent 
appeal against lynch law, which was greatly needed 
if one may judge from the following rough paraphrase 
of a report to Governor Doyle by one of his sheriffs : 

"I regret to report to Your Excellency that on such 
and such a date, such and such a person was forcibly 
taken from my possession by parties unknown. He 
was placed on trial by an improvised tribunal and 
found guilty of lukewarmness toward the cause of 
the United States and our Allies. Thereupon, Your 
Excellency, I regret to report that said unknown per- 
sons proceeded to strip such party to the waist and 
applied to his body a coating of black substance which, 
I am told, was tar. Thereafter, they applied, to the 
surface thus covered, a coating which, I am told, was 
feathers; whereupon they forcibly applied to his per- 
son the toes of their boots and instructed him to leave 
the country, telling him that if he ever comes back 
they will lynch him — and if he does, by , Gov- 
ernor, we will/' 



CHAPTER IX 



"out west'* : UTAH, IDAHO, OREGON, WASHINGTON, 

MONTANA 



TWO inland cities wield a special grip on the imagi- 
nation of the traveller fortunate enough to win their 
acquaintance: Salt Lake City and Spokane. You can 
always tell such a traveller by the fact that he says 
Spo-kan'. This city lies high and dry in the thin 
light air of **the inland empire,'* its clean streets 
sparkling in that rare sunlight known only to the 
West, a roaring silvery river dashing through them 
and turning the city's power-wheels as it goes. Spo- 
kane's shops are better stocked than those of Wash- 
ington or Baltimore, the women dress with a style 
and taste that Fifth Avenue seems to have lost, 
and you find displayed on the shelves of the book- 
stores the latest philosophies, as well as the novels of 
George Meredith and Henry James, — to say noth- 
ing of "Ruggles of Red Gap," that whimsical satire 
by Harry Leon Wilson of "life as she is lived" by 
social pretenders in this western country instead of 
"those who know.'* 

Then there is the hotel, the Davenport. If there 
is a better hotel in these United States, "I ask to 
know," in the phrase of our good friend, Hashimura 

122 



"OUT WEST" 123 

Togo, where to find it. The management does not 
know me from Adam, and has never given or promised 
me a free meal. I am only a sadly harassed traveller 
grateful for this oasis in a wilderness of common- 
place hotels, and furnishing a free testimonial "for 
the benefit of suffering humanity." It is equal to the 
^Talace" in San Francisco or the ''Utah" at Salt Lake 
City, "and I can say no fairer than that." 

American hotels have improved greatly in the past 
twenty years, but they still have something to learn, 
and that is that guests nowadays like to drink water. 
The Davenport and a few others like it have awaked 
to this new hygienic discovery, so that you find a 
faucet of cold drinking-water over your basin between 
those that run "hot" and "cold." But in the average 
hotel you have to persuade a bell-boy, with a tip, to 
go out and persuade some other bell-boy, who also 
expects to be tipped, to fetch you a belly-shaped pitcher 
choked with lumps of ice that reek with the smell of 
some strong disinfectant, all of which is promptly re- 
moved by the chambermaid on the occasion of her 
first incursion. Either this, or sixty cents — plus a 
tip — to an apron-clad waiter from the "bar," with a 
bottle of lukewarm Poland water, for which invisible 
intruders into the room promptly acquire a wild thirst. 
A "vast conspiracy," powerful and wide-spread as 
that which Mr. Hearst avers to be on the trail of his 
persecuted newspapers— which ought to be prosecuted 
instead! — trails the quest of the traveller for water, 
and drives him at last to cola-coca or Vebo or some 
other substitute for the waters of Nepenthe, while the 



124 THE NATION AT WAR 

States keep going dry. It is high time for scientific 
prohibitionists to read Horace Bushnell's justly cele- 
brated treatise on "The Expulsive Power of a New 
Affection,'* and undertake a nation-wide movement to 
inculcate a quenchable affection for water before the 
erstwhile inebriate becomes an inveterate Vebobriate. 
The "Gideons" have put a Bible into every bed-room; 
why not some "follow-up system" of Gideon's pitchers, 
filled with cups of cold water? 

The State of Utah is distinctly exotic. Socially, as 
well as topographically, it has a pronouncedly foreign 
flavour that is yet so unlike anything in one's foreign 
experiences as to make it Utah the unique. There is 
its Great Salt Lake, everybody knows about that; but 
who, as Julian Street triumphantly interrogates, knows 
that the Uintah Mountain Range, in Utah, is the only 
range in the entire country that runs East and West? 
"And what do you know of the Wahsatch and Oquirrh 
Ranges ? 

"Not wishing to keep the class in geography after 
school, I shall not tell you about these mountains, but 
will satisfy myself with the statement that, in an 
amphitheatre formed between the two last mentioned 
ranges, at the head of a broad, irrigated valley, is sit- 
uated Salt Lake City."^ 

When the Secretary of the Utah State Council of 
Defense motored with me to the very tip-top of this 
valley, and we stood where Brigham stood as he 
viewed the landscape o'er after he led his people from 
the desert through the mountain gap to this promised 

""Abroad at Home," Street, p. 440. 



"OUT WEST" 125 

land, I could not wonder that he paused at the head 
of his people and flocks and herds, and, with a busi- 
ness-like intuition that never forsook him, stretched 
out his hand benignly over the smiling valley and ut- 
tered the simple, empire-building words : 'This is the 
place." 2 

There is a somewhat stodgy statue of Brigham 
Young on a high pedestal in an imposing square at 
the comer of Hotel Utah, the statue being unfor- 
tunately so placed as to incur the satire of the godless 
''Gentiles," who constitute sixty per cent of the Salt 
Lake City population, and who gleefully request the 
passing stranger to note that Brigham is placed, "as 
in life," with his back to the church and his hand 
reaching out toward the bank. 

People will say unkind things about statues, how- 
ever. Here in Washington City, whenever the Mt. 
Pleasant cars summon the strength to climb the gentle 
slope that leads from Connecticut Avenue into Colum- 
bia Road, where California Street branches away on 
either side, you cannot forget, as the equestrian Mc- 

' July 24, 1847. The party consisted of 143 men, three women, 
and two children. On their long journey across the plains the 
company was well organised. "Every morning at five o'clock 
the bugle was sounded to awaken the camp. All assembled for 
prayers, then took breakfast, and the second bugle was sounded 
when the company began to march. They travelled about 
twenty miles each day, and at seven o'clock evening prayers 
were said, after which the 'brethren and sisters' gathered around 
the fire and sang songs, accompanied by the band which Brigham 
Young had organized." — "Chief Episodes in the History of 
Utah," by L. E. Young, a nephew of Brigham, now a professor 
in the University of Utah. 



126 THE NATION AT WAR 

Clellan prances high on his pedestal, the remark of the 
wag who said: 

*True to the Hfe, indeed! One line of advance 
and three of retreat, as usual !" 

Uncle Joe Cannon has set a canny example in 
selecting the site of his tombstone himself, so that the 
wag cannot molest or the witty man make his shade 
afraid. 

The valley is infinitely more beautiful now than 
when Brigham Young said, "This is the place," largely 
in consequence of his vision and industrial general- 
ship; for, think what you will of his religion, as an 
empire-builder he takes rank with Cecil Rhodes. 
When he stretched out his hand, it was to strike the 
rock, and give the valley the one thing needful, water, 
so as to make the wilderness blossom as the rose. 
This he did by means of vast irrigation projects grand- 
iosely conceived but executed with superb practicality. 
When Salt Lake City was only a dream in his brain, 
he not only laid out the streets, avenues, and boule- 
vards of a great metropolis, but planted them with 
multitudinous box-elders and poplars, which he irri- 
gated to secure their umbrageous growth, and to-day 
the flesh and arteries of the Mormon Zion have en- 
dued his dream-skeleton with richly abundant life. 

I do not hesitate to say that the University of Utah, 
crowning high ground which overlooks the city and 
far-spreading valleys and snow-capped far-away 
mountains, commands the finest view of any university 
in the world that I have seen, and I have seen the 
most of them ; or to add that the Agricultural College 



"OUT WEST" 127 

at Logan (a genuine agricultural college) stands a 
fine chance for second place. 

The early history of Utah is characterised by certain 
beautiful incidents. One sees the statue of the gulls 
in the temple grounds, or notes the figure on the State 
emblems, and wonders why. Thereby hangs a tale 
savouring of miracle, like the quail or the manna of the 
Bible. 

In the spring of 1848 the pioneers planted five thou- 
sand acres of wheat. The original party had quickly 
been augmented by the "First Immigration," compris- 
ing 1,553 souls, with ''580 wagons, 2,213 oxen, 124 
horses, 887 cows, 358 sheep, 35 hogs, and 716 
chickens"; and by the end of the year 1847 ^^^^ 
thousand people had settled in Salt Lake Valley. Be- 
sides, other pioneers were on the road, so that the 
need of this wheat crop was pressing. 

Imagine the dismay of the Mormons when, during 
the last week in May, when there was every prospect 
of abundant fruition, hordes of crickets swooped 
down on the wheat-fields, hopping forward like some 
black army of destruction, and leaving the fields be- 
hind them as bare as the palm of your hand! Every 
device was used to check them, all in vain; even in 
spite of the fires that were set to destroy them, the 
crickets advanced and increased. The people were 
desperate; women and children wept with fright, and 
the hearts of the strong men failed them for terror. 
They fasted and prayed; then, lo! 

"From the shores and islands of the Great Salt Lake 
came the gulls, myriads of these snow-white birds, 



128 THE NATION AT WAR 

with wild cries winging their way. A new fear arose 
in the minds of the people as they saw the birds alight 
in their fields, a fear that another foe had come to 
complete the destruction of their growing grain. 
Their joy may be imagined when they saw the gulls 
pounce upon the black crickets and gorge themselves, 
returning again and again to the repast. The people 
gazed in amazement upon the birds and their beneficent 
work. No wonder it seemed to them a sheer miracle 
from heaven, a direct and convincing answer to their 
prayers. For six days the destruction went on, and 
on the evening of the sixth day, which was Sunday, 
these winged deliverers quietly flew back to their 
island homes in the bosom of the Great Salt Lake."^ 

My field-agent's year took me three times to Utah — 
twice for the Council and once for the Shipping Board. 
During the first visit (in September, 19 17), I en- 
countered an interesting illustration of religion as a 
handmaid of patriotism. 

A Mormon member of the State Council of Defense 
told me that when he was a little boy his mother drilled 
into his mind the necessity of always storing tithes of 
the wheat. Brigham Young, she said, had told the 
women of his time that a wheat famine lay in the 
future and that they should store up grain against 
the lean years to come. Each season, therefore, an 
increment has been added to the store-house to be 
found on each farm, due renovation nullifying havoc 
wrought by the weevils ; until to-day, according to my 
informant, there are hundreds of thousands of bushels 
*The same 



"OUT WEST" 129 

of wheat stored in Utah — and the Mormons confi- 
dently believe that this War is the exigency which the 
prophet Brigham foresaw, and are perfectly willing 
to use their wheat to win the War. 

On the occasion of this first trip to Utah I reported 
that without doubt Salt Lake City was the most 
patriotic place I had visited. On the Saturday night 
of my stay there I strolled into the finest moving- 
picture theatre on the continent; a great palace of a 
place, seating an audience of thirty-five hundred. 
Mind you, this was in September, 191 7; the country 
had not yet waked up; in most cities and towns the 
people seemed timid with patriotic applause. But 
when I entered and while I remained the building 
rocked again and again with tonic applause as our 
troops and the flag were filmed. 

This was only a spectacular s)mibolism of the sub- 
stantial patriotism of Utah. The organisation oi 
the Mormon church, which, as an organisation, is un- 
surpassed, has devoted its machinery to war work, and 
the "Gentiles'* vie with the "Latter-day Saints" in 
avoiding the curse of Meroz. Of the first Liberty 
Loan, Utah was allotted $6,500,000 and subscribed 
$9,405,050, and has since lived up to this record in 
every respect. Although its only coast-line is the 
shore of the Great Salt Lake, it responded with 
2,500 shipbuilders when asked for 1,660, and when 
I was there in April, 19 18, a proud procession 
of labouring men marched up the main street of Salt 
Lake City under the banner, "Utah^s Shipbuilders Off 
for San Francisco." As one of my colleagues re- 



130 THE NATION AT WAR 

ported, "There exists in Utah an organisation which, 
in my opinion, has no superior, and possibly few 
equals, in this country. It is to all intents and pur- 
poses the organisation of the Mormon Church con- 
verted into a war machine. It reaches each individual 
searchingly and unerringly." 

As already intimated, the "Gentiles" of Utah do 
not permit themselves to be outdone by their Mormon 
neighbours. Governor Bamberger, a Jew, has ap- 
pointed a State Council devoid of politics, in which 
representatives of all religions and interests' work for 
the winning of the War. 

Governor Bamberger showed me in his magnificent 
new State House two paintings illustrative of the 
unique copper mines at Bingham, thirty miles away. 
These pictures look like the product of pure fancy, 
but depict actual fact. A great conical hill fairly sat- 
urated and choked with copper ore is seamed trans- 
versely from apex to base with road-like gashes 
swarming with labourers who are literally razing this 
mountain to the ground in quest of its treasure. 
Twenty-five thousand tons of copper ore are taken out 
every day of the week, including Sunday. 

The State is also rich in coal deposits of a very 
unusual character. They crop out at the mouth of 
canyons on a level with the terrain and are mined by 
digging horizontally into the canyons instead of by 
the usual method of vertical shafts. Accessibility is 
thus their strong point. 

We found a Hebrew Governor in Idaho, as well as 
in Utah, and were told that the same reason prevailed 



"OUT WEST" 131 

in each case. The large Mormon population of Idaho, 
as in Utah, cast their votes for a Jew in preference 
to a Gentile 'Governor, and so Moses Alexander 
governs Idaho. 

On my first visit to Idaho (in September, 191 7) 
the women were doing most of the war work. One 
of them, a Mormon ranchwoman far out in the coun- 
try, near Rexburg, had just sent in a noteworthy letter 
to the women's headquarters at Boise. 

"Our work," she wrote, in apologising for a slight 
delay in correspondence, "has kept me rustling. We 
gave our boys lovely leather bound testaments yester- 
day from the Council of Defense and from the appre- 
ciative thanks and expressions of their faces I feel 
sure they are appreciated. Our Council had three 
cars in the parade. Our first car with officers was a 
large car and had a banner of our President's picture 
carried in front. Then banners with the committee's 
full name. The next car carried Hoover's picture and 
a banner on one side, 'Save & Serve with Hoover,' 
on the other side 'Sign Your Pledge Cards At Once.' 
On the other car 'Save the Food for Our Boys.' 
Needless to say the cars were beautiful in Red, White 
& Blue. Our floral decorations in the tabernacle were 
fittingly arranged in Red, White & Blue order and 
a bouquet given each boy. The Red Cross was well 
represented. We had seats on the platform for our 
Council of Defense and as each member wore a W. C. 
C. N. D. badge on arm we were a pretty strong body 
of 63. It was a great pleasure to me to represent such 
a strong body of women and a still greater pleasure 



122 THE NATION AT WAR 

to be able or rather to have the privilege of making 
the presentation speech. For I feel no dearer mes- 
sage can be given our American boys than the New 
Testament. 107 autos in the parade. After our boys 
were photographed on the steps of the tabernacle I had 
the extreme honour of supporting the American flag 
at the opposite end of Uncle Sam, which it happened 
was my husband whose name is Sam and is called 
Uncle Sam from one end of the country in State of 
Idaho to the other end of Utah. Several good speak- 
ers spoke during the programme and some very ex- 
cellent music was furnished besides two rousing songs 
by the band and audience. Taking all in all we had 
a very successful day of it. The Commercial Club 
and those in charge showed us every courtesy and gave 
us many privileges which surely made me feel our 
work was becoming known and appreciated. I really 
believe our success lays in my motto, which I secretly 
adopted at first but which leaked out and the members 
had done in Red, White & Blue and which graced one 
of our cars. It is, 'Nothing Too Big to Accomplish 
for our Nation.' I never hesitate to go after any- 
thing I want for our Council as I always feel it is for 
our Nation.'' 

The nimble-witted women of Idaho saved a huge 
cherry crop last summer. Going to the commandant 
of a great cantonment, they asked for an afternoon's 
loan of his soldiers; and the commandant, on learn- 
ing the cause of the request, quickly granted it. Lead- 
ing the soldiers out to the cherry trees, which the 
labour shortage had left heavy with an unusually pro- 



«OUT WEST'* 133 

lific harvest, the ladies bade the soldiers to climb up the 
trees and be fruitful. Then the women took the 
cherries home and canned and dried them, and be- 
stowed the fruits of this co-operative labour on the 
cantonment, with the result that the monotony of camp 
diet was relieved, and thousands of gallons of cherries 
were saved that would otherwise have rotted on the 

trees. 

My task on first visiting Idaho (in September, 
1917) was to effect a reorganisation of the Council. 
As this experience proved to be typical and exemplary, 
I give below the Boise Statesman's account of the 
meeting called by Governor Alexander for a confer- 
ence. It had to be summoned on short notice, since 
I could spend but two days in Boise, and the Governor 
therefore assembled only such members of his ''official 
family" as were available. Supreme Court Justices 
Budge, Rice, and Morgan, were in attendance, as were 
Dr. Enoch A. Bryan (afterwards made chairman 
of the Council), John W. Eagleson, Insurance Com- 
missioner Hyatt, I. A. Smoot, Dr. E. T. Biwer, A. L. 
Freehafter, Harvey Allred, Ford C. Cliff, Adjutant 
General Moody, Attorney General Walters, Secretary 
of State Dougherty, State Auditor Van Deusen and 
State Leader of County Agents Hochbaum. 

''Dr. Scherer's recommendations to the State of 
Idaho were as follows: 

" 'Representing as I do the Council of National 
Defense, I am able merely to make suggestions, based 
upon our function as a sort of a clearing-house for 
the activities of State Councils all over the Union. 



1S4. THE NATION AT WAR 

" *The first item that strikes my attention is the 
comparatively small number of your Council, which I 
think might well be enlarged. California, for exam- 
ple, has 33 members, and a Council of this size is by 
no means uncommon. 

" 'Governor Alexander has already shown his wis- 
dom in making non-partisan selections, and this prin- 
ciple in the suggested enlargement of the Council is 
quite fundamental. The Nation is at war, and politi- 
cal considerations must entirely be sunk in the ideal 
of a common, unified service. 

" 'Should the Council be extended, it should con- 
tinue to be broadly representative of all sections and 
interests of the State ; comprising the ablest men pro- 
curable, who will give their time and thought to mo- 
bilising the resources of this great State in so far as 
these have national value with reference to the prose- 
cution of the War. 

" 'Should the Council be enlarged, as suggested, I 
would further recommend an executive committee of 
five, the chairman of the Council being ex-ofificio chair- 
man of the executive committee. 

" 'These men should live in the neighbourhood of 
Boise, so that all of them can attend weekly meetings 
to go over with the chairman important matters that 
will be sure to require constant and careful attention. 

" 'I think it desirable that a majority of the Council 
itself should be within easy reach of Boise, so as to 
secure quorums when special meetings of the full 
Council are called. 

" 'Either the executive committee or a special com- 
mittee (of say three) on rules should report to an 
early meeting of the re-organised Council a brief and 
simple plan of government or set of by-laws. This 
plan should be as little cumbersome as possible, but 
should name the quorum for council meetings, which 



«OUT WEST" 135 

should be a small number; should define the functions 
of the executive committee and its relation to the 
Council very clearly; and should state the frequency 
of the Council meetings, together with any other mat- 
ters requiring formulation in rules. 

"In visiting Missouri, I was j)articularly struck 
with the value of what might be called a peripatetic 
plan of Council meetings. The Missouri council goes 
about through the State, meeting now at Sedalia, again 
at Joplin, and still again at Springfield or Jefferson 
City; always with an open meeting at night (char- 
acterised frequently by a simple public dinner) at 
which two or three stirring speeches are made by menl- 
bers of the Council or invited guests. In this way not 
only do members of the Council become familiar at 
first hand with conditions throughout the entire State, 
but each community where this body assembles finds 
itself greatly stimulated to a more intelligent patriotism 
by virtue of the impress left by the Council on the 
people who attend the public meetings. 

" *My own judgment is that money could hardly be 
better spent than in paying the necessary expenses 
incidental to those peripatetic assemblies. 

" Tt is of crucial importance that a good chairman 
be named to succeed Harry L. Day, resigned. Ex- 
perience of other States leads me to believe, other 
things being anywise nearly equal, that the chairman 
should live in or near the capital. He should have 
abundant energy, he should have the capacity to 
familiarise himself thoroughly with the work of the 
more advanced State Councils, he should be a good 
speaker, as well as what is known as a "good mixer," 
and should be able to go into all parts of the State 
with the object of awakening the people to the tre- 
mendous importance of this War and what they can 
do toward winning it. 



186 THE NATION AT WAR 

** The scope of the Council will develop with great 
rapidity as its work normally proceeds. We will 
gladly furnish abstracts of plans based on the experi- 
ence of the most vigourous State Councils, such as 
those of Connecticut, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and 
Washington. 

** 'Glancing only at those resources of Idaho which 
have peculiar reference to our national problems as 
affected by the War, I am struck at once by your 
prominence in agriculture, mining, and stockraising. 

" Talouse is a synonym throughout the world for 
pre-eminence in wheat production, while the apples, 
prunes, and cherries of Idaho have world-wide fame. 

" 'The Council should have a strong committee on 
agriculture to co-operate with the food administrator 
in speeding-up food production and in stimulating a 
widespread food conservation. I have been already 
greatly interested to learn what the women have done 
in conserving, through drying, a large quantity of 
cherries that would otherwise have rotted on the trees. 

" 'Since wheat is to be a factor in the winning of 
the War, and since the education of our own people 
in eating perishable food will mean the release of in- 
valuable equivalents in export foodstuffs, it may easily 
be seen that excellent as work already done in Idaho 
has been, a great and important field of labour awaits 
the activities of a committee on agriculture — or, in- 
stead, of two committees, one on food production and 
the other on food conservation. 

" 'Stockraising has a direct bearing on national War 
problems, both because of food values involved and 
also because of Idaho's production of wool, which Is 
an essential element in clothing and is therefore sec- 
ond as a war material only to wheat itself. 

" 'Overlooking the mine products of Idaho that have 
no direct utility, I am impressed by the pre-eminence 



"OUT WEST'' 137 

of Idaho as a lead, zinc, and silver producing State. 

" 'The report of your State inspector of mines for 
1916 shows an output of 366,594,000 pounds of lead, 
constituting, I believe, about 30 per cent of the lead 
product of the entire world, together with nearly 
100,000,000 pounds of zinc and more than 12,000,000 
fine ounces of silver — to say nothing of more than 
8,000,000 pounds of copper and 120,000 pounds of 
tungsten, all having immense war utility. 

" *You will probably wish to appoint 14 or 15 com- 
mittees in all, as set forth in the abstracts to which I 
have alluded. I am not mentioning in this report 
activities common to most of the State Councils, but 
merely those more or less distinctive of Idaho, so as 
to suggest the special potentialities of a Council that 
can render great service, not only through co-operation 
with national authorities, but, by co-operating with 
your own State departments, protecting and enhancing 
the interests of Idaho itself.' '* 

When our Washington war party visited the Idaho 
War Conference in May, 19 18, we found that the 
State had transformed itself into a bee-hive of the most 
effective war workers, with a Council of Defense 
second to none in the country. But of course they 
had to do it themselves. I cite this case as a telling 
example of what any of the weaker State Councils 
can do by way of reorganisation if only they make 
up their minds to it. 

Two incidents, one collective and the other indi- 
vidual, carved themselves into memory during this 
Idaho Conference. 

The local "Knights of Columbus" gave Lieutenant 
Perigord a lunch in the grill-room of the Hotel 



138 THE NATION AT WAR 

Owyhee. Happening to glance about the central 
round table at which I was seated by his side, I could 
but note with astonishment the entirely accidental ar- 
rangement of seats. 

There was Perigord, a Frenchman, and brought up 
as a Catholic, the guest of honour. Sitting peaceably 
at his side was myself, brought up a Lutheran, of Ger- 
man ancestry. Next to me was a Catholic priest, and 
next to him a Scotch Presbyterian minister. Then 
came the Secretary of the Idaho Council of Defense, 
a loyal Mormon. Presiding over the feast was the 
Hebrew Governor, Moses Alexander, while sitting 
between him and Perigord was the Catholic Bishop of 
the diocese. But we were all assembled for war work, 
and we exemplified what is happening everywhere. It 
is a time to sink labels, and forget factions, as we toil 
in a great common cause. 

Idaho is broken in two parts by high mountain 
barriers running East and West. The only way to 
reach the large Southern section from the small min- 
ing region of the North is either to go around through 
Montana on the East or to **sidle" down on the West 
through the States of Washington and Oregon along 
the banks of the sinuous Snake River. Yet every 
county in the State was well represented at Boise, 
although not a few of the five hundred delegates had 
to travel a thousand miles to make the trip. 

Among these delegates from Northern Idaho I met 
a man whose face was a tragic mask of grief. I had 
to sit opposite to him one morning, and it was all I 



*'OUT WEST" 139 

could do to keep the tears back, just looking at the 
man, with his tragic mask of restrained grief. 

He was as rough a looking man as you will meet 
in a month's journey, even in the West. His boy, 
entering the war before America did, fell at Vimy 
Ridge, and now the father carries around with him all 
the time a letter, into which is written down the num- 
ber that marks the grave of his boy, "somewhere in 
France." He has never shed a tear; that is what 
makes his face look so tragic, perhaps. He says : 

"When the War is over, I'm going 'over there.* 
When I find his grave, I reckon I'll lie down on it 
and unpack my heart, but I'm not going to cry until 
then,** 

I remember how eager and alert he was to catch 
every little suggestion that was uttered during that 
Conference. He said : 

"It is my sole business until this War is won, and 
won right, to do everything that I can to keep my 
boy from having made his sacrifice in vain." 

I join up with this man in my memory a little 
woman that I met in Montana, at Helena, during the 
War Conference there. While the incident was fresh 
in my mind I wrote of it in a letter to my daughter, 
as follows : 

"I went walking just now in this altitudinous town. 
Presently on a rickety retaining-wall beside the side- 
walk I saw perched a very grimy little girl — not so 
grimy, however, but that a rare beauty shone through : 
blue eyes, golden ringlets, rosy cheeks, teeth like the 
little white grains at the tip of a roasting-ear. *Mar/ 



140 THE NATION AT WAR 

— I guessed her name the first time. Then toddled 
up 'Denny,' whose really-truly name is Virginia; half 
as old as four-year-old Mary. Then marched down 
from the back yard (it was all back yard) Wilbur, 
aged ten or so. I had such a good time that I pressed 
a dime deep into each grimy palm, suggesting — with a 
question mark — candy. But Mary said something 
that I ultimately made out to be *doll-buggy.' And I 
came away. 

"But 'doll-buggy' haunted me. She said it with 
such automatic glibness that I felt she must have been 
saying it often a very long time. And I remember 
how much such things mean to children. So I went 
back and found Wilbur and asked for his mother. 
She came out of the cracked little red house ; from her 
work, looking simple and plain and sweet and sound. 
Mary soon came too. But I heard Denny crying, and 
asked, Why? 

" 'Because I took their money away,* said naughty 
Mother. 

"And I asked, 'Why,' again — 'Opposed to candy?' 

" 'No, but to buy thrift stamps with !' 

"Now, the point is, she dearly wanted them to have 
the candy. I finally prevailed on her to take the dol- 
lar for the doll-buggy by ordering her, as 'one of Uncle 
Sam's men,' to do so, and then the tears came to her 
eyes as she said Mary had been begging for a doll- 
buggy for a year but they couldn't get one for her. 
And they got back their dime apiece when I promised 
to see that thrift stamps should not go begging. 

"Pennies are as precious to that family as bonds are 



"OUT WEST" 141 

to many people; yet every penny they can save is 
going to the War, and they're teaching Wilbur and 
Mary and Denny the same lesson. That's morale. 
And Kaiserism v^ill be spurlos versenkt, sunk without 
leaving a trace.'* 

Now that the spirit which dominates that Montana 
woman and animates that Idaho miner is taking pos- 
session of the entire country, there is a sharp point to 
our soldiers' satirical refrain, ''God help Kaiser Bill!" 

Oregon needs to reorganise itself, as Idaho has 
done. The people are as loyal there as people any^ 
where, but the State Council is a group of eight very 
delightful gentlemen whose chief object seems to be 
to ''boost Portland"— the Atlanta of the Pacific coast. 

I will close this lengthy narrative of the Western 
War Conferences with extracts from the report I 
made on the States of Washington and Montana on 
getting back to the office in June, 1918, as follows: 

The State Council of Washington is maintaining the 
high standard indicated in the lengthy report I pre- 
sented after my visit to Washington last September. 
This in spite of the fact that our afternoon meeting 
at Seattle, which was to have been held May 24, had 
to be abandoned. Paradoxically enough, this incident 
itself is a proof of the good organisation of Washing- 
ton. The Red Cross "drive" was on, full force, and 
the thousand workers directed by the State Council 
of Defense were giving such devoted attention to this 
drive that they could not be assembled for the after- 
noon conference. On the following day a good at- 
tendance was secured for the organisation meeting 



142 THE NATION AT WAR 

of the Conference, which can be pronounced a success. 

Conditions were different in Spokane, where the 
Red Cross people terminated their "drive" a day ahead 
of time so as to make way for the Conference. Both 
the day session and the night meeting were a pro- 
nounced success in Spokane. 

The most interesting change in Washington since 
my visit last autumn is concerned with the I. W. W. 
The pernicious activities of this organisation have 
almost entirely disappeared. This I attribute chiefly 
to the remarkably wise methods adopted by the State 
Council, as indicated by my former report. ''Con- 
trolled publicity" has had much to do with the im- 
provement. The State Council succeeded, after much 
difficulty, in getting all the newspapers to squeeze down 
^heir I. W. W. headlines and news items to a mini- 
mum, as it is a noted fact that this organisation bat- 
tens on publicity, its leaders exhibiting to their would- 
be dupes "scare" headlines and newspaper articles in 
proof of the power wielded by the organisation over 
the capitalistic classes. 

The University of Washington affords a fine ex- 
ample of the manner in which State Universities 
should serve the public during war time. Through 
the magnificent leadership of Dr. Suzzallo, who is 
president of the University as well as chairman of 
the State Council of Defense, the people of Wash- 
ington have been led to understand that such subjects 
as economics have a value that is utilitarian as well as 
academic. To such a degree is this true that now 
^hen a misunderstanding or dispute arises between 



"OUT WEST" 143 

different interests in the State, the University author- 
ities are invariably called upon to collect the facts as a 
basis for judgment; it being known that all the facts 
will be scientifically collected and impartially pre- 
sented. Adjudication is then made by proper tribunal 
without danger of a subsequent complaint being lodged 
of judgment based on insufficient or incomplete evi- 
dence. 

The University requires all of its students to do war 
work. An interesting example of this is found in the 
treatment of sphagnum moss, to which all of the 
women students are required to give two hours weekly* 
The sea bogs abounding on the shores of Washington 
and Oregon furnish vast quantities of sphagnum moss, 
which is an excellent substitute for cotton in the irriga- 
tion of heavy wounds. 

Instead of absorbing water between the filaments, 
as is the case with cotton, sphagnum moss sucks it up 
by a ciliary process and holds it in tiny cups that cover 
the little fronds that circle around the stem. 

I was surprised to find that here in Washington 
City Red Cross workers are already handling sphag- 
num moss. Its value may be gathered from the fact 
that raw cotton is now bringing about 30c a pound, 
whereas sphagnum moss may be had for the gathering. 
Not only so, but by the time cotton has been made into 
material for dressing, its original cost is doubled; 
whereas sphagnum moss requires only to be picked 
free of mineral adhesions and then thoroughly dried, 
which are the processes practiced by the "co-eds" in 
the University at Seattle. The moss actually posses- 



144 THE NATION AT WAR 

ses superiority over cotton as a dressing in that it is 
lighter, bulkier, and not so likely to cake. It has very 
high absorption powers and does not have to be 
changed as often as cotton dressings. 

Jumping to another valuable activity of the Wash- 
ington State Council, let me mention the organisation 
of the Loyalty League of Loggers and Lumbermen in 
the forests. When Captain Disque was leaving for 
the lumber camps of Washington last fall, I gave him 
a letter to Dr. Suzzallo which has brought about 
co-operation between the federal authorities and the 
State Council of Defense. By means of this co-opera- 
tion the Loyalty League has almost completely eradi- 
cated the disloyalty which affected the lumber output 
of the far Northwest so disastrously for a season. 
Disque deserves great credit for the manner in which 
he has dealt with his men. In a camp formerly no- 
torious for recalcitrancy fifty-five out of fifty-seven 
lumber-jacks have voluntarily enrolled in this League 
and invested in Government savings. Members of 
the League make it very uncomfortable for newcomers 
lacking in patriotism. 

Officials of the Washington State Council assured 
me that when they can get federal support for some 
important local movement their authority and influence 
are increased at least one hundred per cent. Ihey 
attribute very great value to positive pronouncem mts 
recently issued by the State Councils Section. Wjiile 
I was there a happy illustration occurred. The Stite 
Council had been bothered by the "business as usuxl" 
campaign, which reaches its extreme in syndicated 



^ "OUT WEST" 145 

articles prepared for newspapers by one H. W. J. 
Taylor of the Retail Credit Men's Association. The 
State Council of Washington had encountered great 
opposition in its campaign for economy until our 
Bulletin No. 94 was received. After this it was all 
easy sailing. 

Montana possesses a vital spirit of patriotism that 
I have not found excelled anywhere. Governor 
Stewart is one of the best War governors in the coun- 
try. Had it not been for his deliberate, just, but firm 
handling of the I. W. W. situation in Montana, grave 
disasters would almost certainly have occurred instead 
of the virtual disappearance of the trouble. As in 
Idaho, so in Montana there was a State-wide repre- 
sentation of county delegates at the War Conference, 
notwithstanding extreme difficulties in transportation 
in this the third largest state in the Union. 

The mass meeting at Helena was one of the five 
best of the entire trip — the others being the meetings 
at Sacramento, Boise, and Reno, in the order named, 
Helena ranking with Sacramento at the very top. 

It was not **down on the programme" that we 
should speak at Butte, but Perigord and I did so never- 
theless — addressing a great mass meeting of miners 
in the public square at six o'clock in the evening of 
May 29. In my judgment this unexpected meeting 
was the most important on the entire journey. Butte 
is more Irish than Ireland, and is a hot-bed of Sinn 
Fein activity. Perigord with perfect bravery attacked 
Sinn Fein activity. Irish miners admire clean grit 
and furthermore pay high reverence to the Catholic 



146 THE NATION AT WAR 

priesthood. They were too overcome by emotion for 
immediate response, but later waited on Perigord at 
the hotel in a delegation and thanked him for having 
"roasted" them. After his very remarkable address I 
heard comments freely expressed in the crowd to the 
effect that there would be fewer labour troubles in 
Butte hereafter. 

Butte is one of the most interesting places on top 
of the earth, and is absolutely unique. It is a huge 
hill crammed full of precious minerals. When min- 
ing was begun there it was expected that the rich yield 
would be only temporary. The miners had to live, 
however, so ''shacks" were built on the hill for their 
accommodation. The deeper the mines have sunk and 
the more extensively they have ramified the richer has 
been the yield, which is to-day at the richest point in 
its history. The Butte mines yield an average of 
300,000,000 pounds of copper annually, besides hous- 
ing the richest silver deposits in the world, so far as 
known, together with great quantities of gold. As 
the yield has continued, more miners' houses have been 
built upon the hill, until now a city of more than ninety 
thousand people covers this great ant-hill of activity, 
which is so honeycombed with mines that it is possible 
to traverse the entire hill from one end to the other 
underground. 

The smelting which was formerly done in Butte 
itself, but is now carried on at the town of Anaconda, 
about a dozen miles away, destroyed with its fumes 
all vegetation, including the trees on the mountains 
'round about. This brown and denuded aspect of 



"OUT WEST" 14T 

death adds weirdly to the general impression as one 
stands on the height of the hill, which, in the very 
thick of this mushroom city, prickles with the derricks 
of the mines like some huge industrial pin-cushion. 
Far-off, seen through an ever-present haze, are huge 
snow-covered mountains, the very snow of which 
seems contaminated by the atmosphere of Butte, which 
is so ugly that it is positively fascinating. 

I had resolved to see Butte even before it became 
my duty to go there. Somewhat puzzled by this de- 
sire, I had asked a "rough diamond" in Idaho the chief 
characteristics of Butte. After scratching his head 
for a moment he said, ''Well, Butte's all there in the 
day time, and there ain't no night in Butte." This I 
discovered to be true with all that it implies. 

The I. W. W. activities were so effective in this 
greatest of mining camps last year as to impede and 
almost suspend mining operations. This is most 
serious when it is remembered that every ounce of 
mineral wealth now taken out of the mines is con- 
signed to the United States Government. Montana 
has so managed its labour troubles, however, that the 
mines are now running full blast. The minimum 
wage is $5.50 a day, while the average wage of miners 
is said to be between $9.00 and $10.00. A miner that 
I talked with in the bowels of the earth assured me 
that men who were paid from $9.00 to $10.00 gave 
far greater satisfaction to the company than those 
who used to get lower pay ! The only labour disturb- 
ance ''on" in Butte when we were there was a little 
insignificant strike of plasterers, plumbers, and inside 



148 THE NATION AT WAR 

electricians — all of these working men doing a thriv- 
ing business in building more houses for the miners. 
Plasterers who received $7.00 for an eight-hour day 
were striking for $8.00 and a seven-hour day. Plum- 
bers receiving $8.00 for an eight-hour day were de- 
manding $9.00 for the same period, while the elec- 
tricians for the same period were receiving $6.00 and 
demanding $7.00. But this is a mere ripple on the 
laughing surface of Butte life, and is probably settled 
by this time. 

The managers of the mines of Butte plume them- 
selves on the patriotism of the miners. Four com- 
panies (the Anaconda, the Butte-Superior, the East 
Butte, and the Davis-Daly mines) made a drive for 
the "War Chest," spending on the expense of the 
speakers, etc., an amount equivalent to seventeen cents 
a ton on 125,000 tons of ore — this at least was the 
Anaconda figure; with the result that 98 per cent of 
the miners of these four companies subscribed to the 
War Chest. Certainly the meeting I addressed with 
Perigord gave the impression of a deep feeling of the 
real spirit of the War. Butte is immensely proud of 
the fact that John D. Ryan has come here to manage 
the aircraft production of the Government. 

This unique American city is at its best at night, 
when one stands on the observation end of a Pullman 
train and climbs the enormous grade leading out of 
purgatory into normal American territory. The huge 
ant-hill is then all aglow with the most brilliant lights 
and shimmers in the increasing distance like the vast 
Koh-i-nor that it is. 



"OUT WEST" 14i9 

Speaking of lights reminds me of the huge search- 
light built on the top of a vast ash-heap that crowns 
the summit of the much vaster hill that is Butte. Per- 
haps this is the final touch with which to leave the 
story. One sees it in the day-time, sinister, expressive 
of the industrial volcano from which eruption may be 
expected at any moment; for the purpose of this 
'search-light, which is used frequently, is to sweep 
every nook and corner of Butte with its rays through- 
out the long working hours of the night in quest of 
skulking dynamiters bent on destruction. In fact, I 
must add to this the weird effect I got from a peculiar- 
ly saccharine smell that suddenly came on us very 
strongly in the bowels of the Leonard mine. It was 
so curious that I prevailed upon the reluctant super- 
intendent (who accompanied us) to tell the cause. It 
was fire, which has been burning underground for 
many months; and the singularly sweet smell is due 
to its consumption of precious ores. The big picks 
of our miners were driving very close to it, at immi- 
nent peril, in the desire to cheat the fire of its prey; 
and we heaved a sigh of relief when we stood once 
more on what Mrs. Partington would call terra cotta. 

If some German spy had criss-crossed the country 
with me, he would have found the planters of Louis- 
iana concerned about their sugar crop, not for what 
they can make out of it, but for what they can do 
with it in feeding our boys and our Allies. At the 
opposite corner of the country he would find the lum- 
ber men of Washington and Oregon concerned about 



150 THE NATION AT WAR 

not what they can get out of their lumber, but how 
they can get the spruce out of the forests to help Uncle 
Sam build his airships. All through the country he 
would find the people determined to support Woodrow 
Wilson and Charles Evans Hughes in their endeavour 
to "get" the men who have hindered our aircraft build- 
ing programme, if such there be. Further, in Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut he would find the great men 
of those States giving practically all of their time to 
the War organisation of the country; building up, for 
example, a great war employment service that will en- 
able New England to handle its labour supply effective- 
ly by distributing labour, with labour's free consent, 
from the points of surplus supply to the points of the 
greatest need. Crossing the country through the great 
Northwest and dropping down with me into the ex- 
pansive grain fields of the Central West, he would find 
the farmers concerned in speeding-up food production, 
just as loyal business men and labourers are speeding- 
up ship production along the Pacific Coast in huge 
plants that have sprung up, as it were, over night. 
Then, were he truthful, he would write a letter like 
this to his Kaiser : 

"May it please your Majesty, these Yankees are a 
strange folk. They are the most peaceful people in 
the world, and the most foolishly patient; but they 
possess the traditional anger of the patient man, when 
fully roused. For two and a half years they looked 
on at the great conflagration in Europe with their 
hands in their pockets, and never even bought a water 
bucket for protection. But now, the flame of prac- 



"OUT WEST" 151 

tical patriotism is sweeping the country like a prairie 
fire, and God help you, Kaiser Bill, when this backfire 
meets the flame of your war! Their waiting will un- 
doubtedly mean waste to them — waste in treasure and 
in precious human life; but their resources are inex- 
haustible, and they are at last *mad clean through/ 
and resolved to give short shrift to any movement, no 
matter who leads it, for an inconclusive peace. If 
you take my advice. Your Majesty, you and your 
family will clear out before you get cleaned out ; leav- 
ing as a last bequest to your people, in a final effort 
to' repair irreparable wrong, an urgent plea that they 
establish a fair and just government whose first act 
shall be to disarm, simultaneously with withdrawal 
from invaded lands and repayment for devastation 
and destruction. I have been on a swing around the 
circle, Your Majesty — as these picturesque Yankees 
describe it. There can be no doubt that Uncle Sam 
has got his jaw set, as they say. The same blood that 
fought England twice, and won, still courses through 
his mighty heart and veins. Remember his own Civil 
War, how fiercely and gallantly his children fought 
on both sides of the house now united; take it from 
me. Your Majesty, that the long lines of the blue and 
the grey are completely melted in a far longer line clad 
in khaki ; and that even if you break the French and 
British lines in France and Flanders, you must face 
an unflinching and unconquerable America!'* 



CHAPTER X 

ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 

MISSOURI was one of the first States "to be 
shown'* the value of organised patriotism by means of 
its State Council of Defense, which has become a 
model to its neighbours. Late in August, 19 17, I 
attended one of the peripatetic meetings of this Coun- 
cil, held at Springfield, in the Ozark Mountains. We 
had a touch of welcome winter weather, I remember, 
and sat around a roaring wood fire. 

One of the first contributions of Missouri to war 
work was the stimulation of food production. As a 
consequence of her first year's effort she increased 
food production ten per cent, and put 750,000 acres 
into corn that had never been put to any crop before. 

This question of corn is important. I know of 
an old lady out West who has even been complaining 
of God on account of it. "Here I am," she says, 
"eighty-three years old, and He's been purty good to 
me so fur, but now He's gone and took away my white 
bread. I don't see why I ain't just as good as them 
Allies. Why should we have to put up with corn 
bread and send all our wheat and flour over there? 
Ain't we just as good as they are?" 

Now, for my part, there is no bread quite equal to 

152 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 153 

a good old Mississippi 'Wn pone," especially if it has 
a few "cracklin's" sprinkled through it. The pro- 
gressive State Council of Illinois "demonstrates" the 
proper use of corn-meal in Chicago by means of a num- 
ber of colored ''mammies" in the corner stores — the 
demonstrations being made complete by distributing 
sample corn-meal products, together with the recipes 
for preparing them. For those whose tastes are not 
properly educated, however, it needs to be made clear 
that the Government is not calling on us to practise 
sacrifice so much as to exercise discrimination. Here 
in this opulent land we could hardly sacrifice in food- 
stuffs if we tried, and none of us are trying very hard. 
But it is our bounden duty to discriminate. The 
reason we are asked to eat more corn bread so as 
to ship more wheat is that we can ship wheat and 
flour economically, while it would be a waste to at- 
tempt to ship com. Meal spoils when exposed to 
salt-water; flour doesn't. Wheat packs compactly 
into the hold of a ship; corn doesn't. Even if we 
shipped the corn, they wouldn't know what to do with 
it "over there." All through the New Testament you 
find the word corn, but the English translators did 
not know what they were talking about! Whenever 
they said corn they meant wheat. When an English- 
man to-day talks about com, he calls it maize or Indian 
corn. If we tried to educate them in the use of corn, 
we should have to send machinery for grinding it; 
and we haven't any business to be sending any ma- 
chinery to Europe these days, except machinery to kill 
Germans with. 



154 THE NATION AT WAR 

So it is all along the line. We send bacon to our 
boys because it stands shipment, and we want them 
to save their bacon and to come home with the bacon. 
So with beef. But you can be patriotic and eat all 
the poultry that you please. Of course, you must 
first "catch your turkey" ; which reminds me of Uncle 
Rastus, of whom Booker Washington told this story : 

Uncle Rastus was mighty fond of turkey for Christ- 
mas. He never could get a whole turkey of his own 
for Christmas, and it was one of the aspirations of 
his life to have a whole turkey. But he never could 
get one, although, being religious, he prayed very hard 
for one. Finally he had an ^'illumination," as he 
called it. 

"ril tell you how it was, Marse Washington. I 
been prayin' every yeah fo' a turkey. It's true, Marse 
Washin'ton, dat de Missus sen' down de carcuss from 
de big house and de giblets, but it's been one of de 
movin' aspirations of my life to have a whole turkey, 
and I ain't never got no turkey, altho' every Christmas 
I pray, *0h, Lo'd, send dis niggah a turkey ; Oh, Lo'd, 
send dis niggah a turkey.' And I ain't never got no 
turkey. But dis yeah I jes' put one mo' little word in 
there, and de night befo' Christmas eve I pray, 'Oh, 
Lo'd send dis niggah to a turkey,' an' I got a turkey 
dat same night !" 

Our amiable Secretary of War tells us that we are 
going to win, because it is irreligious to doubt it, and 
that is true; but we American people must continue 
to add works to our faith, until we put every last 
ounce of our energy into intelligent organized effort. 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 155 

To use one of our own vivid colloquialisms, we must 
go to it. 

Oliver Cromwell was a great religious soldier. His 
motto was, 'Trust in God, and keep your powder dry." 
Assuredly we shall trust in our God — ^not the German 
tribal deity known as Gott, but that Ancient of Days 
who nurtured our Republic in its infancy, and Who 
has promised His blessing to that Nation whose God 
is the Lord. At the same time let us go *'to the help 
of the Lord against the mighty" in this crucial hour of 
struggle between right and wrong, with the last atom 
of practical resourcefulness that we can command. 

It was in Indiana that George Ade contributed an- 
other choice African story to my collection. This was 
the first War Conference I attended (in December, 
191 7), and one of the most effective. A distinctive 
feature .was the editors' lunch-party on the second day 
of the Conference, attended by nearly every editor in 
the State, regardless of politics, — with which this 
Indiana atmosphere seems permanently permeated. 
Will Hays, then chairman of the State Council, said 
in his speech that the Republican party might go hang, 
so far as he was concerned, in comparison with ef- 
fective war work ; and Meredith Nicholson, an ardent 
Democrat, paid Hays a warm tribute for the fearlessly 
impartial manner in which he administered the Coun- 
cil.i 

* Mr. Nicholson's remarks were as follows : "It is a privilege 
as it is a pleasure to have an opportunity to testify to the 
intelligence and vigour with which Governor Goodrich has ad- 
dressed himself to the business of putting Indiana on a war 



156 THE NATION AT WAR 

George Ade gave me my Negro story while extri- 
cating himself from the quandary in which George 
Creel had placed him. Through failure of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad to deliver Mr. Creel as chief 
speaker, Ade, the toastmaster, with a pained expres- 
sion and a diffident manner, narrated Aunt Dinah's 
account of a wedding. 

"Well, Dinah, were the bridesmaids pretty?" asked 
her mischievous mistress on the return of Aunt Dinah 
to her tubs. 

"Law sakes, Missus, dey sho' wuz. One of *em 
had on a green polonaise, and de othah, she woh bobi- 
net." 

footing. If the Council of Defense of this loyal commonwealth 
isn't the best, the most energetic and enlightened in the Union, 
I should like to hear of another that approaches it for the 
character and range of its work Every citizen of this state 
is indebted to Mr. Will H. Hays, the chairman of the State 
Council, for the zeal and effectiveness with which he has or- 
ganised our war work, and for the great patriotic awakening 
of our people to which he has contributed in so great meas- 
ure. As a Democrat I am glad to express my appreciation of 
what the Republican state administration has done, and what 
the Republican chairman of the State Council is doing to 
mobilise Indiana's resources. I'm disposed to be pretty critical 
of my neighbours* Americanism in these times, but if there's 
a sounder American between the two oceans than Bill Hays I 
confess that I don't know where to lay my hand on him. He's 
a Republican, but first of all he's an American citizen. He has 
neglected nothing that could add to the strength of Indiana's 
arm or to the realisation by all her people that this is our war, 
a war for the defense of those principles of freedom and 
democracy that are rooted deep in the Hoosier earth that our 
fathers won for us and fought and saved under the leadership 
«f Abraham Lincoln.'* 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 157 

**And how about the bride?" 

"Law, Missus, you sho' sh'ud ha' seen dat bride. 
She had on a dress o' white orangeade, wid lemon 
blossoms droopin' from her haih. It was de scrum- 
shionest weddin' dese old eyes ebah hab seed!" 

"And the groom, Aunt Dinah; how did the bride- 
groom look?" 

"Law, Missus!" the old woman screamed, as her 
fat sides shook with laughter, "you know dat fool nig- 
gah he nebah did show up at all?" 

I purloined the original autograph copy of Ade's 
brief address to his editors, and write it down here 
because it has a wide application : 

"Gentlemen: My conception of a brave man is 
one who will tell his editor how to run his paper. I 
know that when we ran off the weekly edition on a 
Washington hand-press and had to address every 
single wrap, the editor was close to the carpet most 
of the time and needed the money, but he didn't take 
orders from any outsiders. 

"Later on, in a booming metropolis of 20,000, with 
a real cylinder press and boys' carrying-routes, when 
I was telegraph editor, proof-reader, dramatic editor, 
and chief editorial writer, I came to know that a real 
editor is one who knows how to hit the waste-basket. 

"Then I went to a larger town and became a simple 
unit in a gigantic Sears-Roebuck journalistic organ- 
isation, the editor being concealed from public view, 
but there was one intangible asset in which all of us 
shared. It was the knowledge that our paper could 
not be bought and could not be coerced. 

"You have been invited here to-day, editors of In- 
diana, by men who know something about the news- 



158 THE NATION AT WAR 

paper game from the inside. Let my first assurance 
to you be that we are not going to tell you what to 
hang on your copyhooks. We are fellow volunteers 
in the same service. You and we are trying to get 
to the people the information that will reveal to them 
the significance of this war — the inspiration that will 
keep them determined to win the war. 

''Your desk is cluttered with hot stuff from publicity 
bureaus. Every good publicity agent thinks his own 
message is the most important of the lot. Such simple 
tasks as conserving foods, saving soft corn, selling 
Liberty Bonds, collecting millions for the Red Cross 
and Y. M. C. A., punishing the traitors, organising the 
Home Guard, enlisting Boys for the Working Re- 
serve, are passed along to the editor these days in 
the serene belief that his patriotism knows no bounds 
and his space is unlimited. 

"The editors of Indiana have responded like good 
soldiers but even a good soldier can't carry a kit that 
weighs a ton. The editor finds it impossible to sup- 
press local news. Children will be born, and young 
people will get married and old settlers will pass away, 
even during war times. 

"The problem with many a publisher just now is — 
How shall I do my full duty as a messenger of patriot- 
ism and at the same time get out a regular newspaper ? 

"The Indiana State Council of Defense has made 
many appeals to you for help and you have helped — 
generously, unselfishly. We shall be compelled to ask 
more favours of you, not for ourselves but for the long 
campaign to which all of us are now committed. We 
have asked you to come here to-day not that we may 
tell you what to print in your papers, but that you 
may tell us how we can be of intelligent help to you. 

^'We must co-operate. We may find it advisable to 
agree here upon some definite propaganda. You 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 159 

know the temper of your readers. It may be that the 
bulletins and special articles we have sent you do not 
always appeal to your editorial judgment. All right ! 
Let us decide what kind of news and what kind of 
editorial appeals will deserve publication and get to 
your people and bring the results for which we are 
striving — an intelligent understanding of our aims 
in the war, an unfailing readiness to answer every 
call to duty and, above all, a rock-ribbed and unshake- 
able determination to outgame the other fellow and 
see this war through to a creditable finish." 

Illinois held its first War Conference, as it hap- 
pened, in the midst of the bitterest freeze of the coldest 
of winters, but the delegates somehow managed to ar- 
rive, while I created a mild sensation by appearing 
on the platform just at the moment when a disgruntled 
chairman was announcing that I was snowed up some- 
where between Kansas City and Chicago. 

"Snowed up" we certainly had been ; and that night, 
attempting to get out of Chicago, a crowd of us stood 
around in the filthiest "union station" on the continent, 
waiting from nine until three in the morning for the 
train for Louisville, Kentucky. This appointment I 
missed altogether, but another visit to Louisville dem- 
onstrated what excellent work was being done in the 
Blue Grass region.^ From Louisville I went to West 
Virginia, the State whose Council of Defense has been 
endowed with larger statutory powers than any other 
in the land; and found energy backing intelligence. 
The same brief report may be made of flying visits to 

* Perhaps the most notable thing in Kentucky is the Moon- 
light Schools for drafted illiterates. 



160 THE NATION AT WAR 

Tennessee/ Michigan,^ Pennsylvania, and Delaware.^ 

The Oklahoma War Conference I attended with 
keen curiosity, since for some reason or other a wide- 
spread impression had gone abroad that Oklahoma 
was lacking in loyalty. My experience verified that 
of Secretary Lane. Said he: 

*T had been told that I would find the very seat 
and centre of hostility to the Government in Okla- 
homa. I went there. I found that a few misled 
tenant-farmers had objected to the draft. When I 
asked the reason, they said that New York had 
brought on the war and New York should make the 
fight. But that was not nearly so much the spirit of 
Oklahoma as the draft riots were the spirit of New 
York in 1863. 

"After a meeting in Tulsa a man came to me, 
dressed in a blue jumper and overalls, and said: 

" T am doing my bit. I have six children, four 
boys and two girls. The four boys are in the army — 
and the two girls are Red Cross nurses, and I am sav- 
ing to buy a Liberty Bond.' 

* Tennessee had such an excellent office organisation, under 
Major Rutledge Smith, that the National Council impressed his 
services as a "zone director" for certain Southern States, just 
as Mr. J. H. Winterbotham, Jr., of Chicago, looks after States 
of the Central West. 

'Michigan's most noteworthy recent achievement was the 
holding of 8,500 simultaneous patriotic meetings in the schools 
(July 8, 1918) while school officers were being elected. 

•Delaware was late in getting started, but the War Confer- 
ence held at Wilmington in July, 1918, guaranteed a successful 
career. 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 161 

"That does not look like slacking, nor do Oklaho- 
ma's total subscriptions to the Liberty Loan bonds." 

Kansas did notable work in the stimulation of food 
production, under the generalship of Dr. H. J. Wat- 
ters. One gets an unpleasant impression, however, 
that politics is mixed up with the Kansas Council. 
Iowa, a little slow in getting started, perhaps is just 
now "striking her gait." That aged and indomitable 
"war horse," Lafe Young, of Des Moines, chairman 
of the Iowa Council, gave me these slogans for slack- 
ers that have never failed to elicit approval from au- 
diences all over the country : 

"Every traitor and every near-traitor in the United 
States is inquiring, 'What are we going to get out of 
this War?' 

"Well, among other things, we are going to get 
a better grade of patriotism than we have been hav- 
ing. 

"We are going to put an end to building up foreign 
colonies in the United States as breeding places of 
treason. 

"We are going to love every foreigner who really 
becomes an American, and all others we are going to 
ship back home. 

"We are going to have consultations with the I. 
W. W.'s to ascertain whether or not they have a real 
grievance or any just cause for their treasonable 
mouthings and threats. If they have any just cause, 
we are going to remove it; then we are going to shut 
their mouths for good and all. 

"Out of this War we are going to get a new United 



162 THE NATION AT WAR 

States. We are going to hate nobody, but we are 
going to be prepared to fight whenever necessary. 

''There are a good many other things we are going 
to get out of this War. When the soldier boys come 
home, we are going to have several millions of patriots 
who, having fought for the flag, will make good citi- 
zens and thorough patriots." 

Some of the very best Councils, such as those of 
Wisconsin and Minnesota,^ it was not my good for- 
tune to visit. But I must not close this chapter with- 
out mentioning certain exemplary undertakings in 
some of these States, with the hope that other States 
may profit by them. 

Nothing that Wisconsin has done is of more value 
to the Nation at large than its treatment of the foreign 
language press. The State Council publishes a series 
of weekly articles, averaging less than a thousand 
words each, on such subjects as American Ideals, and 
Germany's Responsibility for the War. Printed in 
German as well as in English, these are ofifered in 
"plate" form to the fifty German-language papers in 
the State, and have been regularly published by all 
of them. 

Recently, for example, the Germania Herold, the 
leading German newspaper in Wisconsin, published 
editorially an **Open Confession," concluding, on the 
strength of the famous Lichnowsky memorandum, that 
Germany had deliberately caused the War. The State 

* Minnesota, with its large foreign population, is wisely dis- 
tributing large numbers of Hale's "The Man Without a Coun- 
try," and Blythe's "Der Tag for Us." 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 163 

Council promptly had this article republished in all 
the other German newspapers, and also circulated it 
in leaflet form by the thousand. 

The result of such patriotic propaganda is revealed 
in the fact that in German-populated counties in Wis- 
consin that had subscribed only twenty or thirty per 
cent of their Second Liberty Loan quotas, the sub- 
scriptions to the Third Loan all exceeded one hundred 
per cent, and in some cases more than two hundred! 

Of no less importance is the instruction of aliens 
in English. Illinois, for example, has undertaken to 
teach English to every foreign-speaking woman in the 
State. Many classes have already been started in 
connection with large factories, the manufacturers co- 
operating on account of their recognition of the in- 
crease in efficiency that must result. 

Housing is another phase of "welfare work" receiv- 
ing stimulus from the efforts of the Councils. Here 
in Washington, for example, the District Council of 
Defense maintains a Room Registration Bureau that 
during last June Hsted i,6i6 rooms and placed 1,955 
people ; while away out in Arizona the large employers 
of labour have been brought to effect a substantial im- 
provement in living conditions, — and this in general is 
true of the country at large. 

One of Pennsylvania's novel and noteworthy 
achievements is the appropriation by the Council of 
$50,000 to train boys to work on the farms. Experi- 
ment last year having proved that boys can earn a 
wage of two dollars a day to the satisfaction of the 
farmers, this year the boys are to be assembled in 



164 THE NATION AT WAR 

forty Liberty Camps, or "Farm Plattsburgs," and sup- 
plied with tents, food, and cooking and sleeping out- 
fits. 

Texas is leading the country in public education in 
health, while Virginia leads in the stern measures en- 
forced against social vice. No State outdoes Ohio in 
the excellence of its free Employment Service, while 
Arkansas challenges comparison for its devotion to 
War Relief. New York, New Jersey, and Florida are 
subject to reorganisation that ought to bring as good 
results as that of Idaho, for example, while Maryland 
challenges South Carolina in the wise organisation of 
its Negroes. Wyoming co-operates with the Bureau 
of Forestry in an interesting movement to arrange for 
the use of nationally owned forests as grazing land, 
with a large resultant increase in stock accommoda- 
tions already. South Dakota engages in an early fuel- 
buying campaign with the slogan, "Buy coal now or 
twist hay next winter!" — while North Dakota attacks 
"slacker land" by ordering all the idle acres to be 
broken up and cropped, this conscription of "slacker 
land" having resulted already in an increase of a hun- 
dred thousand acres of crop-lands, half being given to 
wheat ! 

Thus the Councils differ as radically in specific 
character "as the Maine fisherman from the Arizona 
cowboy," but all are animated by a common purpose, 
and give witness to the awakening of a new national 
consciousness. What they will mean to the future no 
man can tell. A New England leader said recently : 

'Never in my life have I been thrown with so many 



ZIGZAG JOURNEYS 165 

different sorts of interesting people as in this State 
war work. Most of them never had any use for 
political life before the War. They called local poHtics 
a dirty business and kept away from it. But now they 
are finding public service the most fascinating game 
they ever took part in. It is queer to see them play- 
ing it side by side — capitalists and labour leaders, men 
and women of every creed, every party, every walk of 
life. 

"You can't tell me that the new blood these people 
are infusing into our public life will not have a perma- 
nent strengthening and purifying influence, or that 
they will ever sit by after the War is over and let 
things slide back into our old haphazard government 
by quacks and crooks and phrase-makers. It is a 
hopeful sign. If State Socialism comes — and I begin 
to feel that it is coming — ^it looks as if we should have 
the men to run it!" 



CHAPTER XI 

THE RESEARCH COUNCIL AND THE SHIPPING BOARD 

"LIAISON" is a word that has come into its own 
through the War, We borrowed it from the French 
originally to denote a questionable social relation, but 
closer contact with them has acquainted us with its 
deeper and highly respectable meaning, that of "bond," 
or "union," and we have now adopted their military 
use of it to denote various ties that link us together in 
war work. As already shown in Chapter V, it is 
used in Washington of men who link up one depart- 
ment of governmental activity with another ; these are 
called for convenience "liaison officers," after the 
usage obtaining on the battlefields. 

My spare time in Washington, between journeys, 
passed all the more pleasantly because it fell to my 
lot to be a connecting link between our Section of 
the Council of Defense and the National Research 
Council. The work of that newly organised body is 
of such great interest and import that I intend to set 
down here a brief account of it, which I draw almost 
entirely from publications made by its officers. 

Its aim is to group into one common "liaison" or 
union all of the scientific agencies of the Government 
and, indeed, of the Nation, so as to mobilise them 

i66 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 167 

swiftly and effectively for national service; and to 
clasp hands across the seas with our Allies. Backed 
by the National Academy of Sciences, whose offspring 
it is, the Research Council looks farther than the War, 
and should result in an international comity of scien- 
tific endeavour that will mean much for the future of 

mankind. 

No more striking recognition of the work to be 
wrought by scientific research in the world of the fu- 
ture has ever been accorded than that set down by 
the British Labour Party in its "Reconstruction Pro- 
gramme." This party ''calls for more warmth in pol- 
itics, for much less apathetic acquiescence in the mis- 
eries that exist, for none of the cynicism that saps the 
life of leisure. On the other hand, the Labour party 
has no belief in any of the problems of the world being 
solved by good will alone. Good will without knowl- 
edge is warmth without light. . . . The Labour party 
stands for increased study, for the scientific investiga- 
tion of each succeeding problem, for the deliberate or- 
ganisation of research, and for a much more rapid dis- 
semination among the whole people of all the science 
that exists."^ 

The chairman and indeed the founder of the Na- 
tional Research Council, Dr. George Ellery Hale, was 
deeply impressed, on visiting Europe in the spring of 
19 1 7, with the marvellous acceleration occasioned by 
the present War in the science of medical relief. In 

* "Towards a New World" may be had in pamphlet form for 
20 cts. from W. R. Browne, Wyoming, N. Y. Documents of 
the very highest importance comprise this booklet. 



1(58 THE NATION AT WAR 

the hospital of Compiegne, accompanied by Dr. Alexis 
Carrel, he witnessed the operation of ''a. system of 
surgery in striking contrast with the crude and often 
deadly methods in vogue during our Civil War." 

"The success of Carrel's system," Dr. Hale con- 
tinues, "is not due to a single element, but to the com- 
bined advantages of a highly developed technique. 
The operation itself is first performed with unusual 
care. A system of rubber tubes, with openings at close 
intervals, is next arranged over the wound, which is 
then irrigated to the greatest possible depth at regular 
intervals with Dakin's antiseptic fluid, supplied from 
a reservoir. We were shown every element in the 
plan, the patients cheerfully submitting their wounds 
to inspection. While I could not follow my com- 
panion (Doctor William H. Welch) in his apprecia- 
tion of the details, I could at least admire the extraor- 
dinary results and rejoice with him in this magnifi- 
cent contribution of science to the relief of the hor- 
rors of battle. 

"Think of the contrast with the surgery of the Civil 
War ! I have heard our veteran colleague. Dr. Keen, 
describe with the emotion which all who were forced 
to use those earlier methods must now experience, the 
deadly errors into which they were led by ignorance, 
at length dispelled by the greatest of Frenchmen — 
Pasteur. It was no uncommon thing in those days — 
not so long ago, yet mediaeval in their obscurity — 
for a surgeon to withdraw his knife from a wound, 
sharpen it upon his boot, and plunge it once more, 
loaded with violent bacteria, into the very lifeblood 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 159 

of his patient ! What wonder that deaths were a com- 
mon sequence of even trivial v^^oundsl And yet the 
human sympathy of the surgeon and his intense de- 
sire to save were no less obvious than at the present 
day. 

"What has accomplished this marvellous revolution? 
The patient researches of Pasteur and their adaptation 
to the art of surgery by such men as Lister and Carrel. 
No better proof of the value of scientific research to 
the world, no clearer evidence of its intensely practical 
importance in the midst of this world war, could pos- 
sibly be asked. "^ 

The organisation of the National Research Council 
is based upon the principle of broad and effective co- 
operation between the numerous scientific agencies of 
the United States and those of the allied countries. 
The Council is in reality a federation of research 
laboratories, working together toward a common end. 
At present its chief purpose is to assist in winning the 
War, both by the perfection of military devices and 
by the solution of industrial problems which the War 
has occasioned. But in the future, it will devote its 
attention to the promotion of research in all branches 
of pure and applied science. 

The organisation of researches bearing on the na- 
tional defense frequently involves the co-operative ef- 
fort of many investigators residing in different States. 
Sometimes the joint action of an entire university 
in question, is essential to success. Several researches 

*"How Men of Science Will Help in Our War," Hale, Scrib- 
ner^s Magazine, Vol. LXL, No. 6, p. 721. 



170 THE NATION AT WAR 

are in hand in which entire laboratories are taking 
part. More commonly, however, individual investiga- 
tors known to be especially qualified are enlisted by 
the National Research Council from widely scattered 
institutions. 

By thus mobilising all of the scientific resources of 
the country, the Research Council is assisting to an 
invaluable degree in the perfection of devices having 
direct and immediate bearing on the winning of the 
War. Obviously, details are not to be published at 
present, but this much at least may be said: that in 
such distinctive instruments of modern warfare as 
the submarine and the aeroplane, the co-operative prin- 
ciples on which the Council is based have already con- 
tributed practical results in the shape of detective de- 
vices leading to the destruction of the former, and of 
safety devices for protection of the latter, and for the 
consequent protection of thousands of the choicest of 
American lives. 

In his New York address before the Engineering 
Foundation (in May, 1918), Dr. Hale gave the fol- 
lowing account of the most recent development of 
the Council, involving as it does a broad international 
scheme of incalculable promise for the scientific prog- 
ress of the world. 

By joint action the Secretaries of War and Navy, 
with the approval of the Council of National Defense, 
have authorised and approved the organisation, 
through the National Research Council, of a Research 
Information Committee in Washington, with branch 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 171 

Committees in Paris and London, which are intended 
to work in close co-operation with the offices of the 
Military and Naval Intelligence, and whose function 
shall be the securing, classifying, and disseminating of 
scientific, technical and industrial research mfornia- 
tion, especially relating to war problems, and the in- 
terchange of such information between the Allies in 
Europe and the United States. 

In Washington the Committee consists of, first, 
a civilian member representing the National Research 
Council, Dr. S. W. Stratton, Chairman; second, the 
Chief, Military Intelligence Section; third, the Di- 
rector of Naval Intelligence ; and fourth, a Technical 
Assistant, Dr. Graham Edgar. Similar Committees 
are being organised in Paris and London. 

The initial organisation of the Committee in Paris 
isr 

(a) The Scientific Attache, representing the Re- 
search Information Committee, Dr. W. F. Durand, 

(b) The Military Attache or an officer deputed to 

act for him. 

(c) The Naval Attache or an officer deputed to 

act for him. 

(d) A Technical Assistant, Dr. K. T. Compton. 

(e) A Military Assistant, Mr. Tod Ford. 

The initial organisation of the Committee in Lon- 
don is: . 1 -D 

(a) The Scientific Attache representing the Re- 
search Information Committee, Dr. H. A. Bumstead, 
Attache 

(b) The Military Attache or an officer deputed to 

act for him. 

(c) The Naval Attache or an officer deputed to 

act for him. 

(d) A Technical Assistant, Mr. S. W. Farnsworth. 



in THE NATION AT WAR 

The chief functions of the foreign Committees thus 
organised are intended to be as follows : 

(a) The development of contact with all important 
research laboratories or agencies, governmental or 
private; the compilation of problems and subjects 
tinder investigation; and the collection and compila- 
tion of the results obtained. 

(b) The classification, organisation and prepara- 
tion of such information for transmission to the Re- 
search Information Committee in Washington. 

(c) The maintenance of continuous contact with 
the work of the offices of Military and Naval Attaches, 
in order that all duplication of work or crossing of 
effort may be avoided, with the consequent waste of 
time and energy and the confusion resulting from 
crossed or duplicated effort. 

(d) To serve as an immediate auxiliary to the of- 
fices of the Military and Naval Attaches in the collec- 
tion, analysis, and compilation of scientific, technical, 
and industrial research information. 

(e) To serve as an agency at the immediate service 
of the Commander-in-Chief of the Military and Na- 
val forces in Europe for the collection and analysis 
of scientific and technical research information and 
as an auxiliary to such direct military and naval 
agencies as may be in use for the purpose. 

(f) To serve as centres of distribution to the 
American Expeditionary Forces in France and to the 
American Naval Forces in European Waters of 
scientific and technical research information orig- 
inating in the United States and transmitted through 
the Research Information Committee in Washing- 
ton. 

(g) To serve as centres of distribution to our Allies 
in Europe of scientific, technical and industrial re- 
search information originating in the United States 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 173 

and transmitted through the Research Information 
Committee in Washington. 

(h) The maintenance of the necessary contact be- 
tween the officer in Paris and London in order that 
provision may be made for the direct and prompt in- 
terchange of important scientific and technical infor- 
mation. 

(i) To aid research workers or collectors of scien- 
tific, technical and industrial information from the 
United States, when properly accredited from the 
Research Information Committee in Washington, 
in best achieving their several and particular pur- 
poses. 

The chief functions of the Washington Office of the 
Committee are as follows: 

(a) To provide means of ready co-operation with 
the Paris and London offices of the Committee by: 

Receiving, collating and disseminating information 
forwarded from these offices ; 

Rendering available such evidence and documents 
as may be collected by the National Research Council 
relative to research in the United States, so as to for- 
mulate replies to inquiries sent from abroad; 

Communicating to foreign offices needs for addi- 
tional information relating to problems originating in 
the United States. 

(b) Classification, cataloguing and filing of papers 
and reports received from various sources at the re- 
quest of the National Research Council, and record of 
researches in progress concerning which detailed in- 
formation may be obtained elsewhere. 

(c) Issue of lists of available information and 
preparation of digests of such information for distri- 
bution to properly accredited persons. 

(d) Maintenance of contact with various research 
agencies in the United States. 



174 THE NATION AT WAR 

An appropriation of $38,400 has been made by the 
Council of National Defense to cover the expenses of 
the Research Information Committee for the current 
year. 

Vice-Admiral Sims, in Command of the U. S. 
Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, has 
been particularly cordial in his welcome of the foreign 
representatives of the Research Council. Fully ap- 
preciating the possibilities of scientific co-operation, he 
has issued a circular letter to all naval officers and in- 
vestigators in Europe, directing them to facilitate the 
work of the Scientific Attache in every possible way, 
to keep him fully informed of investigations in prog- 
ress or needed, and to make every proper effort to 
see that all investigators, whether officers or civilians, 
shall consult the Scientific Attache in order to avoid 
unnecessary duplication of work and to utilise scien- 
tific and technical information obtained from any 
source. He has also created a Scientific Division of 
his staff, and placed Dr. Bumstead at its head. Major- 
General Biddle, in command at American Army 
Headquarters in England, has issued similar orders 
to ordnance, engineer, gas, signal, aviation, medical 
and other offices in England. The British Govern- 
ment, on its part, has opened every source of informa- 
tion to Dr. Bumstead, and provided for the closest co- 
operation in research. 

In France, Dr. Durand is also in close touch with 
our own Army and Navy, and with the French Gov- 
ernment and men of science. He has also been ap- 
pointed the representative of the United States on 
the Inter-Allied Board of Inventions. 

The Ministry of Alunitions in Rome has recently 
requested, through the Italian Ambassador in Wash- 
ington, that a representative of the National Research 
Council be sent to Rome as Scientific Attache and 



SCIENXE AND SHIPS 175 

head of an Italian branch of the Research Informa- 
tion Committee. 

The natural development of the work of the Re- 
search Information Committee will lead to the con- 
centration in the office of the National Research Coun- 
cil, where the Washington headquarters of the Com- 
mittee is established, of all available information re- 
garding research problems under investigation both 
in the United States and abroad. At the same time 
a service is being developed for the purpose of bring- 
ing properly accredited inquirers into touch with exist- 
ing sources of scientific, technical, and engineering 
information in the United States. One of the most 
valuable of these is the Information Service of the 
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, w^hich is 
furnishing much important material to the National 
Research Council. A central office from which in- 
quirers may be directed to Government bureaus and to 
such sources of information as that just mentioned 
has long been needed, and it is possible that the serv- 
ice of the Research Information Committee, once 
well organised, will be in increasing demand. 



The best example of practical (and highly valuable) 
co-operation between the National Research Council 
and an individual State Council of Defense is afford- 
ed in the case of California. Dr. John C. Merriam, 
chairman of the Committee on Scientific Research 
under the California Council of Defense, reported last 
October to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco 
certain items of important achievement that should 
spur similar committees on other State Councils to 
"go and do likewise." 



176 THE NATION AT WAR 

Work on economic problems in chemistry, said Dr. 
Merriam, includes an investigation of extraction of 
potash from mother liquor obtained in the manufac- 
ture of salt, a study of the utiHsation of wood waste, 
a study of derivatives of petroleum, and an effort to 
devise new processes for manufacture of cyanide at a 
reduced cost. 

The committee on geology and mineral resources 
has been exceedingly active. Consideration was given 
first to those carefully selected problems for which 
solution is most urgently needed. It was through the 
recommendation of the committee on geology that the 
Commission on Petroleum Investigation was ap- 
pointed, as almost the first action arising out of the 
work of the Committee on Scientific Research. It 
was also through the committee on geology and min- 
eral resources that impetus was given to investigation 
of existing iron resources, since taken over by the 
committee on economics. 

As next in importance to petroleimi and iron, the 
geological committee is now engaged in a study of 
the staters important resources in manganese, so nec- 
essary in certain alloys used in steel production. The 
committee is also working on metallurgical processes, 
which will make more useful the manganese ores now 
available. The work on manganese is being con- 
ducted by three of the men most fully equipped for 
this investigation, and is done in co-operation with the 
Federal government and the California State Mining 
Bureau. This resource of our state is large, and de- 
serves full exploitation at this time. 

Through the recommendation of the committee on 
geology and mineral resources, the Governor, as chair- 
man of the Council of Defense, appointed a committee 
to investigate the petroleum resources of California 
with a view to presenting such information as might 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 177 

be needed in forming a judgment concerning meas- 
ures required to place this state in a position to meet 
emergency conditions. 

With most praiseworthy energy the committee 
brought together a carefully prepared statement of 
existing conditions in the field of petroleum produc- 
tion in California. It has also presented definite rec- 
ommendations regarding procedure making it possible 
to meet the existing emergency, and, at the same time^ 
care for future conservation of our oil supply. The 
committee prepared its report in well organised form, 
printed it and distributed copies to all interests con- 
cerned with the problem, within a remarkably short 
time following its appointment. This w^ork has re- 
ceived wide approval and represents one of the most 
important investigations undertaken as a part of the 
emergency programme in this country. 

The committee on zoological investigations has 
under way a survey of the possible sea-food forms on 
the California coast. This is giving data on the num- 
ber of kinds of fish and molluscs available, the rela- 
tive quantities of each, and the extent to which they 
have heretofore been used. Through the biological 
station at La Jolla the committee has under way 
a careful study of conditions governing the distribu- 
tion of the tuna and other food fishes of the southern 
coast. Up to this time we have not known certainly 
the true nature of the tuna supply as to quantity, as 
to its normal location, or as to the conditions which 
govern its movement. A third inquiry which is under 
way covers investigation of use of fish for fertiliser, 
hog feed, and chicken feed. It is carried on with the 
idea that it may be possible, by more careful co-ordina- 
tion of the work in fish industries, to get a larger 
and cheaper supply of food for poultry raisers. A 
fourth problem covers investigation of conditions un- 



178 THE NATION AT WAR 

der which certain sea-foods may be poisonous to men, 
with a view to making their freer use possible under 
proper conditions. 

The work of the committee on psychological inves- 
tigations has centered on the study of aviation, with 
the purpose of securing such information as will make 
it possible to determine from preliminary tests the 
ultimate fitness or unfitness of men for aeronautic 
work. Much has been generally reported concerning 
studies on this subject, but the field is as yet imper- 
fectly known. Permission was obtained from gov- 
ernment authorities at Washington and San Diego 
to carry on a series of experiments at the government 
aviation school at San Diego. A temporary labora- 
tory was established at San Diego and experiments 
were carried on by Professor G. M. Stratton and Mr. 
Spencer W. Symons. The data so gathered are now 
being interpreted. Men in the school of aeronautics 
at the University of California have also been exam- 
ined and preparations are being made to examine 
many others from time to time in the psychological 
laboratory of the University. Professor Warner 
Brown and fourteen or more advanced students of 
the University will assist in this work. 

Out of the large number of emergency problems re- 
quiring investigation, the committee on medical re- 
search has given special attention to three. These 
are: (i) Work on botulism, a particular form of 
food poisoning originating especially in use of cer- 
tain kinds of canned vegetables; (2) the study of tri- 
nitro-toluine poisoning from munition factories; (3); 
a possible new cure for tuberculosis. 

The work on botulism, or food poisoning, carried 
on by Doctor E. C. Dickson of the Stanford Medical 
School, has been progressing favourably. Doctor 
Dickson has been able to show that the cold-pack 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 179 

method of canning vegetables recommended by the 
Federal Department of Agriculture does not prevent 
development of bacillus botulinus which causes this 
poisoning. Several other series of experiments re- 
lated to the development of this important subject are 
under way and results will be available in the near 
future. 

The study of a possible new cure for tuberculosis 
is carried on under the direction of Doctor F. P. Gay 
of the University of California. Experiments on the 
curative results obtained by use of a substance known 
as taurine in infected guinea pigs and rabbits are pro- 
ceeding satisfactorily. These experiments require 
from four to six months for their completion. As a 
preliminary application of the experiments to a study 
of tuberculosis in man, it has been possible to show 
the absence of poisonous effects of taurine injected 
into the blood of man, and Doctor Gay has begun pre- 
liminary treatment of human cases with taurine. This 
work is facilitated by the discovery of a new process 
for extraction of taurine from abalones. A consider- 
able supply of taurine is now being prepared for a 
study of tuberculosis in human beings. Tuberculosis 
has become a terrible menace in France, and anything 
that can be done to reduce its ravages in this emer- 
gency, or following it, should be advanced. 

These pages seem to the writer to illustrate with 
convincing power the fact that the World War is 
jolting America out of a comatose state of national 
inefficiency into a unity of organised effort which in 
itself more than compensates for the cost of the War 
in blood and treasure. 

Here in Washington many people have told us 
how to win the War. Joffre calls for more men, 



180 THE NATION AT WAR 

Hoover says the chief need is meat and wheat, MedlU 
McCormick comes back from the front and says that 
the War is to be won by huge guns and plenty of 
them, while our Boy writes home from the engine- 
room of his "star" submarine chaser that the navy 
people think "over there" that the War will have to 
be won by American airplanes, "blinding" the enemy. 
Who is right ? Probably all. Certainly it is men that 
must win the War, and our brave troops must always 
be remembered as incomparably more valuable than 
machinery or munitions or provisions; but they must 
all be fed, and supplied with the necessary imple- 
ments and instruments. Obviously, then, a funda- 
mental need is for ships. The men lack Peter's gift 
of walking on the water, the cannon cannot trundle 
across, the meat and wheat must be transported, even 
the aircraft cannot fly across the sea. You cannot 
ship men without ships, and then they must be pro- 
visioned and munitioned by a continuous shuttling 
of these ships across the ocean, for it requires at least 
two million tons of shipping to take care of half-a- 
million soldiers "over there.'* 

To bring such rudimentary facts home to the people, 
and especially to university students, became one of 
my special tasks in December, 191 7, when I entered 
the employment — at another "dollar a year" — of the 
Industrial Service Department of the Emergency Fleet 
Corporation. Co-operating with Dr. Frank P. McKib- 
ben, of Lehigh University, and under the direction of 
Mr. Meyer Bloomfield, I had the pleasure of assisting 



SCIENCE AND SHIPS 181 

in securing large numbers of students for the ship- 
yards in a period of serious emergency. 

Everybody knows of the differences that developed 
between General Goethals and Mr. William Denman 
soon after we entered the War, regarding the relative 
merits of steel and wooden ships. General Goethals, 
who had been promised an undivided responsibility, 
ultimately resigned in consequence of a hopeless ''dead- 
lock" resulting from divided responsibility, and the 
President, after deftly accepting Mr. Denman's resig- 
nation also, selected Mr. Edward N. Hurley to ''boss 
the job" of bridging the ocean to France. Mr. Hur- 
ley had the good sense shortly to call to his aid the 
executive genius of Charles M. Schwab, and now we 
are really building ships. But nearly eight precious 
months were sadly wasted, and had it not been for the 
assistance of England our troops could never have 
reached France in the nick of time to save the cause 
of liberty. In his speech early in August, 19 18, re- 
viewing the War, David Lloyd George revealed the 
fact that of the 305,000 American troops crossing the 
ocean during the preceding month, 185,000 had been 
carried in British bottoms. Our Assistant Secretary 
of the Navy, Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt, said in Lon- 
don at about the same time : "The United States owes 
much to the untiring work of the British Navy, for 
it is a fact that about sixty per cent of the troop- 
ships carrying Americans to Europe are British ships, 
and have been escorted by British men-of-war."^ 
Under the new system of centralised authority given 
^ North American Review's War Weekly, Vol. i, No. 32, p. 3. 



182 THE NATION AT WAR 

to Mr. Hurley, our shipbuilding picture is rapidly 
brightening. Its later and brighter side is shown by 
Washington's shipyard report for July, 1918, the latest 
available information as this book goes to the press : 

Washington, Aug. 6. — American shipyards 
launched a greater tonnage during July than during 
any previous twelve-month period. One hundred and 
twenty-three ships, totalling 631,944 tons, left the 
ways. 

Of the total, sixty-seven vessels were steel, aggre- 
gating 433,244 tons; fifty-three ships were wood, to- 
talling 187,700 tons, three composite vessels of wood 
and steel making up the balance. 

The July total, which was swelled by the remark- 
able launching of July 4, was more than double the 
output of the yards in June. Officials of the Shipping 
Board believe the July total will be exceeded this 
month. 

During July forty-one vessels, totalling 235,025 
tons, were completed and delivered to the Shipping 
Board. Of this number thirty-six were steel vessels 
of 217,025 tons and five were wooden vessels of 
18,000 deadweight tons. If two ships delivered from 
Japanese yards were counted, the grand total would 
be forty-three ships of 250,880 deadweight tons. 

From August, 19 17, when the present Shipping 
Board began operations, up to August i of this year, 
there have been delivered thirty-seven steel contract 
vessels having a deadweight tonnage of 245,700 and 
210 requisitioned vessels totalling 1,326,156 tons, a 
grand total of 247 ships aggregating 1,571,856 tons.^ 

^N. Y. Tribune, August 7, 1918. 



CHAPTER XII 

PERSONALITIES 

HAVING spent the last ten years in California and 
the preceding decade in South Carolina, I naturally 
know more about the public men of these States than 
of others; and it so happens that they are just now 
"to the front" to such an extent that the country has 
a quickened interest in them. 

The real majority leader of the House, in my judg- 
ment, is Representative Asbury F. Lever, of South 
Carolina— and an admirable leader he is. Kitchin, of 
my own native State, is one of those frock-coat affairs 
that ought long ago to have been relegated to the po- 
litical junk-heap. Lever, miniature giant that he is — a 
second Alexander H. Stephens ?— deserves the highest 
gifts at the hands of his State for his heroic devotion 
to the South's essential cause, agriculture; and above 
all for his unswerving, unquestioned loyalty. 

It meant something for Lever to be loyal. Was 
he not from the famous Dutch Fork, and did not the 
disease of Bleaseism, once dominant there, threaten 
his political overthrow if he dared to speak out for 
the War? Yet go to the Dutch Fork he did, this 
weazened wizard, and bearded them and heckled them 
about the War— turning the tables on his hecklers. 

183 



184 THE NATION AT WAR 

His dark face illumined with those blazing black 
searchlights of eyes that redeem him from homeliness, 
he called out to the dupes of *'Coley Blease," after he 
had made them hear his war story : 

**Here, you! Hans Kraut, what would you have 
done had you been Wilson? Tell me! And you, 
Fritz Schmidt, what would you have done in my place? 
Wouldn't you have supported the President?" 

There is nothing South Carolinians so much admire 
as clean grit ; and, like Missourians, they also demand 
to be shown. Lever had both the case and the cour- 
age; so he won them, and won them overwhelmingly. 
It is pleasant to know that there is no man in the 
House on whom the President relies more steadfastly 
than on Lever, for he will be true to his trust. It is 
to be hoped, now that Tillman is dead, that Lever may 
before long have a place in the Senate, to which Blease 
the infamous aspires. 

Pitchfork Ben! What an insult to the character 
this Rough Diamond wrought upon his granite State 
that Cole L. Blease should have stirred the baser 
depths of those rural "masses" whom Tillman first 
made conscious of their power, and so won a way for 
his despicable and infinitely dangerous demagoguery 
through paths which an honest man had blazed. For 
Tillman was honest, as able. He revolutionised his 
State in the interest of the common people; writing 
first a new constitution, and converting South Caro- 
lina, quite literally, from an oligarchy into a democ- 
racy. He had his faults; all strong men have them; 
the greatest of all faults is weakness. He sometimes 



PERSONALITIES 185 

abused his huge power, but the main direction of his 
strength was ever true, as true as the needle to its star ; 
and that is the test of a man. Pitchfork Ben! God 
rest his ruddy soul! 

Bom in 1847 on a ten-thousand acre homestead 
that had been his family's possession for more than a 
century and a quarter, this heir of aristocracy over- 
turned its political rule in South Carolina. A life- 
long student of history and law, he began his political 
career in 1885 by a speech at a farmers' convention. 
The State was startled by his originality and power. 
Not until four years later, however, did his influence 
become strong enough to build a legislative platform 
of reform. From that time forward the State di- 
vided into Tillmanites and "antis." The "cornfield 
lawyer," as he liked to call himself, was elected Gov- 
ernor after a ''raw, self-advertising campaign" in 
which he drove from place to place in a farm wagon 
"decorated with sheaves of grain, cotton-stalks, corn- 
tassels, and pea-vines. Often the horses were taken 
out of the wagon and it was drawn by a hundred or 
more farmers." After a second term as Governor he 
was sent to the Senate, to remain there twenty-four 
years. 

His most important work in his State, after revolu- 
tionising it, was the establishment of the Clemson 
Agricultural and Mechanical College, on the site of 
Calhoun's old home, at Fort Mill, and the Winthrop 
Normal and Industrial College for Girls, at Rock 
Hill. His most important work in the Senate was 
done in recent years as chairman of the Naval Affairs 



186 THE NATION AT WAR 

Committee; for "Pitchfork Ben" was no pacifist. He 
never uttered nobler words than those of 1916, when, 
answering a charge that the South was giving sec- 
tional direction to national affairs, he said: 

"The country belongs to us all and we all belong 
to it. The men of the North, South, East and West 
carved it out of the wilderness and made it great. 
. . . Let us share it with each other, then, and con- 
serve it, giving to it the best that is in us of brain and 
brawn and heart." 

Hiram Johnson revolutionised California almost to 
the same degree that Tillman revolutionised Carolina. 
Both States were ruled by oligarchies; one social, the 
other commercial. The aristocrats "ran'* South Caro- 
lina before Tillman, and the Southern Pacific Railway 
ran California before Johnson opened his smashing 
1 910 campaign with a single plank — "to kick the 
Southern Pacific out of politics." 

Having kicked it out, he kept it out; and, by such 
constitutional amendments as those involving the initi- 
ative, referendum, and recall, made it as nearly im- 
possible as any legislation can for it or any other "big 
interest" ever to control the State again. Other things 
he did, one of them certainly unwise. Just as Till- 
man's great mistake was the Dispensary system for 
the sale of liquor, Johnson's lay in his failure to pre- 
vent (in 1913) the enactment of a discriminatory 
Anti-Alien law.^ But in spite of this, Johnson was 
the greatest American Governor of recent years. I 
express now the same judgment pronounced of him in 

"See "The Japanese Crisis," Scherer, pp. 97, 115. 



PERSONALITIES 187 

October, 191 6, when introducing him — in his contest 
for the Senate — to a Los Angeles mass meeting. 

"Citizens of California," I said, "the very terms in 
which I address you all at this moment were made 
possible under the leadership of the great Governor 
whom it is my privilege to introduce. Instead of 
laying emphasis on distinctions — instead of saying 
Ladies and Gentlemen — we are able in this State under 
his leadership to address men and women together as 
citizens; and if the Johnson administration had ac- 
complished nothing else for human rights this alone 
would entitle it to fame. 

"But human rights has been the keynote of numer- 
ous notable achievements. The Workmen's Compen- 
sation Act, satisfactory to employer and employee 
alike, has secured for labour a larger share of life, 
liberty, and happiness than it hitherto enjoyed, with 
actual profit and protection to capital. A Railway 
Commission has worked the miracle of securing fairer 
service for the people, with the corporations them- 
selves applauding its fairness and efficiency I A Hous- 
ing Commission, proceeding on the salutary principle 
that prevention is better than cure, wards off the slum 
and invites the immigrant to a citizenship that shall 
involve a clean and wholesome home. A system of 
good roads unites the Sierras with the seas and breaks 
the barrier of the Tehachepi with a network of State 
highways built without a breath of scandal or a rumour 
of waste in such fashion as to win the admiration of 
the world. Many other such things have been done; 
and yet the people's purse has been so carefully safe- 



188 THE NATION AT WAR 

guarded that instead of the deficit of $265,000 which 
Johnson found, to-day we have to our credit $4,500,- 
000 of state funds. Best of all: our liberties have 
been restored to us, and not only restored but secured. 

"This is the man whom California is willing to lend 
to the Nation. The Nation needs him. He says in 
his platform : 

" T shall endeavour to extend to the Nation by fed- 
eral action what we have given to our State, suffrage 
for women.' 

*'He says, further: 

" T am for national preparedness — a preparedness 
sufficient to protect our citizens and to preserve our 
Nation from invasion or aggression. I am not only 
for this sort of preparedness, but equally I am for the 
preparedness necessary for both peace and war^ — that 
preparedness which begins with social health, with so- 
cial justice, with social conditions which produce men 
who can be good soldiers because they have had a fair 
chance to be good and contented citizens.' 

**Hiram Johnson is not seeking an honour, he is 
seeking new opportunities of service. As our Sena- 
tor he will still belong to the State but he will also 
serve the Nation — as the friend of human rights. But 
to-night we can still claim him affectionately as our 
Governor. We can greet him. Citizens all, as the 
greatest of American Governors, Hiram Johnson." 



CHAPTER XIII 

PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 

DR. ALBION W. SMALL delivered the com- 
mencement address at his old alma mater, Colby Col- 
lege, in the June of 191 7. We had just entered the 
War, after hesitating for two years on the brink. Dr. 
Small, knowing Prussia as few Americans know it, 
and consequently convinced of the profound issues in- 
volved in this War, had not yet wholly escaped from 
the fear which for two years had oppressed him lest 
we fail the world in its crisis. "Few native Ameri- 
cans," said he, "have more or weightier reasons for 
gratitude to Germany than I have been accumulating 
for nearly forty years. None can be more willing in 
every possible way to acknowledge the debt which can 
never be discharged. And yet ! And yet ! This will 
be an intolerable world until the Germans have once 
and forever recanted, with all it involves, that most 
hellish heresy that has ever menaced civilisation: 
There is no God but power, and Prussia is its 
prophet !" 

Anxious that America should answer with all her 
heart and all her soul and all her strength the great 
moral summons to which at length she had unstopped 
her ears. Dr. Small introduced his main theme by a 

189 



190 THE NATION AT WAR 

beautiful reference to Paul Helie Perigord, as fol- 
lows: 



At the first meeting with my class of graduate stu- 
dents, on the opening day of the summer quarter, 
1910, one face held my attention from all the rest. 
At the time, the only word which I could find for 
my impression of that face was spectral. It was the 
type of face which is associated in my imagination 
with Savonarola and St. Francis of Assisi. At the 
end of the hour the young man whose face was so 
unusual introduced himself. In a few words he out- 
lined his personal history. Educated and consecrated 
in France as a Roman Catholic priest, he had come 
to this country with the intention of making it his 
home. He had received an appointment as professor 
in an important seminary for the training of priests. 
With the approval of his archbishop he had decided to 
devote his summer vacations to further academic 
work in a subject remote from that of his professor- 
ship. 

Therewith an acquaintance began which I cherish 
as among the most notable of the many close asso- 
ciations with students during my thirty-six years of 
college and university teaching. For three successive 
summer quarters this young man returned to the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, and at the end of the third quar- 
ter he received his degree of Master of Arts. Mean- 
while I had found in him one of the choicest spirits 
it has ever been my privilege to know. He revealed 
himself to me in ways which I had never supposed 
possible to a priest with a layman, and especially with 
a Protestant. In this acquaintance I learned, what 
even Bobby Burns may not have suspected, that — **A 
priest's a man for a* that." If nothing had deflected 
the course of my friend's career, his native and ac- 



PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 191 

quired mental and spiritual qualities would doubtless 
have assured him high rank among American Catho- 
lics. 

Early in the autumn of 19 14 I was startled, but not 
surprised, to learn that immediately after the German 
violation of Belgium my friend had renounced his 
ecclesiastical prospects, had crossed the Atlantic with 
all speed, and had enlisted as a soldier of France. At 
long intervals he sent me samples of the laconic postal- 
card messages permitted to soldiers: He was well 
and hoped to be sent to the front soon; he had been 
wounded, but was well again and hoping to rejoin 
his company in the trenches; he had been wounded 
again and probably disqualified for further fighting; 
he had regained strength enough to be serving as 
interpreter at staff headquarters; and in January of 
this year (191 7) came a long letter, the leading theme 
of which was this: "Until lately I have felt that I 
had no desire ever to see my adopted country again. 
But I have reconsidered. After the war the problem 
will remain. Can America save her soul? I now in- 
tend to return, if I live, after I can render no more 
service here (in France), and spend the rest of my 
life trying to help work out that salvation." 

And then Dr. Small adds: 

"This soldier of Jesus Christ, detailed for service 
at the French front of the Army of the Prince of 
Peace, was right. For Americans, ever)^hing else in 
the present world-crisis is incidental to the problem: 
Will America evade or accept the moral issue which 
Germany has forced upon the world, and thus lose or 
save her soidf'^ 

* "Americans and the World Crisis," A. W. Small, in Ameri* 
con Journal of Sociology, Vol. XXIII, No. 2, pp. 146-147. 



192 THE NATION AT WAR 

Thanks be to God, America has accepted the moral 
issue involved in the Great War. She has saved her 
soul. For a year, in every part of this immense coun- 
try, I have seen the spiritual thermometer of our peo- 
ple steadily rising, until now it is at blood heat. And 
hardly any man has contributed more to this result 
than the young Savonarola of France who intended, 
had we not gone into the War, to become a missioner 
to us, when it should close, in behalf of our national 
soul. 

The French High Commission brought him to 
America, after his last terrible wounding, in 191 7; and 
gave his services free of charge to the Committee on 
Public Information. Co-operating with the Speakers* 
Bureau of this Committee, the Council of Defense 
sent Perigord to the War Conferences organised 
throughout the country, of which I have already told. 
Of the countless valuable experiences that came to me 
out of my field-agent's year, the experience of ac- 
quaintance with him, and finally of intimate friend- 
ship, is what I value most highly. 

He is thirty-five years old now, and he came to this 
country when twenty. Not content with his graduate 
work at Chicago and other American universities, he 
was studying at Harvard when news came that France 
was invaded. A native of Orleans, this ardent lover 
of France literally left his books scattered open on his 
study table, and caught the first ship sailing for Eu- 
rope after war was declared. Finding, on arrival in 
France, no chaplaincies vacant, he at once enlisted in 
the infantry, thinking that the men in the trenches 



PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 193 

might be those that would chiefly need succour. 
''Father Perigord" indeed he became to the boys of his 
regiment, this priest who enlisted as a private. 

Boys they were in very truth : ranging from eighteen 
to twenty-four. He has spoken in all of our States, 
and no one that heard him can forget his story of 
these French boys at Verdun. 

"You remember the German Crown Prince," he 
quaintly asks; "that great Prince, who so far had 
taken only portraits and furniture from French dwell- 
ings and castles, but decided that he would now take 
a city ? He thought it would be nice to take it on our 
French national day, July 14 ; very thoughtful of him ! 
But we decided to do all we could to make it hard for 
him. For three days and three nights before his at- 
tack there was the most terrible shelling; then wave 
after wave of gas, to kill those who had not been 
caught by the shelling. You know what a brigade is : 
two regiments of three thousand soldiers each. Well, 
early on the morning of July 13 these six thousand 
boys, from eighteen to twenty- four years old, knelt 
down to receive my blessing ; and it was a solemn mo- 
ment, for I knew that many of them would never re- 
turn, and I did not know whether I myself should 
return or not. 

''About nine o'clock on the morning of July 13 the 
first unit of the German attack charged up the hill of 
Verdun; but we charged down on them and drove 
them back. At noon a new unit charged ; and the boys 
drove them back also. At three o'clock a fresh unit 
charged ; and the boys were so tired that an entire Ger- 



194. THE NATION AT WAR 

man company entered the ditches of the fort. Then 
our General sent for me, and he said, 'What shall we 
do? The reserves cannot come until five o'clock, and 
the Germans are in the ditches of the fort!' I said: 
'You come see the boys, General; they are all ready 
to die for France, and France can ask no more of her 
sons. Let us charge once more.' 

"So we charged down the hill, and we took the 
German company prisoners, those whom we did not 
kill ; and at five o'clock the reserves came, and the city 
of Verdun was forever saved. 

"So the Crown Prince, who had his mail sent to 
Verdun, had to have it sent back again, with the no- 
tice, 'Has not yet arrived!' But of the six thousand 
boys who received my blessing that morning only fif- 
teen hundred were left; and the first thing they did 
>vas to ask for a thanksgiving servdce, kneeling down 
there, because their lives had been spared. And yet 
people sometimes say that France is a faithless na- 
tion!" 

It was at Vimy Ridge that Lieutenant Perigord re- 
ceived his commission, on the field, under the most 
dramatic conditions. He tells of it with the most 
perfect modesty, and by request of our Secretary of 
War. Mr. Baker told him that there is only one 
trouble with our soldiers, and that is, they all want 
to be officers; none of them wish to be privates. The 
distinguished Irishman, T. P. O'Connor, happened to 
be present, and he remarked : 

"Why, Mr. Secretary, that is just like the Irish; 



PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 195 

we have never been able to get up a band in Ireland, 
because all the musicians want to be leaders/' 

It was at Vimy Ridge that the Germans used gas 
for the first time, and their victims happened to be the 
Canadians. The Canadians had no masks, and so 
some of them ran away. But when the British and 
Australians teased them, the Canadians answered : 

"Oh, that is all very well ; but the Germans know our 
mettle, and they know that when they want to whip 
us they have to give us gas first !" 

In those early days the French officers still wore 
their gay uniforms, instead of the ''horizon blue" 
that now melts into the landscape. They made daz- 
zling targets, and as the Germans gave orders to shoot 
the officers first, many of them were shot down. Of 
the sixty-two officers promoted with the Lieutenant 
only two are now on active duty; the others have all 
been killed or otherwise put out of action. 

At Vimy Ridge, when the German Imperial Guard 
broke through the French lines, the company in which 
Perigord was a private, being billeted in a town near 
by, happened to become the leading company in re- 
sisting the German charge. His Captain, shot through 
the right lung, handed him his sword, and told him 
to take command of the company — a sword which 
the Captain himself, the last remaining officer of the 
company, had received from his dying officer at the 
Mame. So Perigord summoned the boys to another 
charge, and "because these boys were so brave and 
daring," they attacked the Germans successfully and 
brought back with them all that was left of that Im- 



196 THE NATION AT WAR 

perial Guard unit. Then when the General next came 
riding along he said : 

**\Miere are the officers, and whence this sword?" 

*'So I told him how I had received the sword, and 
then he said to me. very graciously : 

" '\\'ell. my friend, you keep the sword, and you 
keep the company.' 

**So that is how I got my commission; and your 
Secretarv of War has asked me to say wherever I 2:0 
that he has a commission for any Sammie that does 
the same." 

Lieutenant Peri^rord, bv the wav. confirms the in- 
teresting stor^^ of tlie French origin of this word Sam- 
mie. The French first called our soldiers ''Teddies" ; 
but when our troops began to disembark in large num- 
bers the French people called out eagerly : 

"Lcs ajnis! Ics a)r.is!" 

The American boys, none too sure of their French, 
mistook the crow^d's pronunciation of ''friends" for 
a new nickname, "Sammy" ; it amused them, and is 
rapidly embedding itself in the new international war 
language with "Tommy" and "poilu" and "boche." 

I am not sure but that tlie most beautiful story 
Perigord tells (and he keeps it for rare occasions) is 
of Joan of Arc and her voices. The American troops, 
as he says, have been assigned to the sector of Lor- 
raine, because the French people like to give tlie United 
States the best of everything. "^M^en we sent you 
one of our Generals to visit you we did not send Pe- 
tain or Castelnau; we sent you Field Marshal Joffre." 

And so in the same way they have given us the 



PATX PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 197 

sector of Lorraine, with the Valley of Domremy in 
it, [because they thought we should like to be charged 
with the guardianship of the home of Joan of Arc. 
Then Perigord adds, with a twinkle : 

''Besides, we think that when the American boys 
give Lorraine back to us, it will be a good deal larger 
than when we gave it to them !" 

Well, two Sammies were idly discussing, one day, 
in skeptical fashion, the story of Joan and her voices. 
''Do you think she really heard them?" one of them 
asked of the other. "Xo"; he was sure it was only 
a sweet old story, the other replied. 

But just then a French officer came riding along, 
and one of the Americans called out to him: 

"How about Joan of Arc and her voices? Do you 
think she really heard them?" 

"But, yes!" smiled back the French officer — for it 
happened that just as the question was asked the clear 
notes of an American bugle were heard as the Amer- 
ican troops came marching down the Vale of Dom- 
remy: "Listen! there are her voices now!" 

And so, these people of exquisite sentiment, as of 
unsurpassable valour, call America their new Joan of 
Arc. 

Perhaps equally beautiful is that letter which Peri- 
gord frequently reads to his audiences, written by 
Odette Gastinel, a thirteen-year-old school girl in 
France, to the children of New York. It has to do 
with the tiny river of Yser, on the sides of which 
French and Germans lined up in battle array early in 



198 THE NATION AT WAR 

the War, facing one another; and here is his trans- 
lation : 

"It was only a little river, almost a brook. It was 
called the Yser. One could talk frorn one side to the 
other without raising one's voice, and the birds could 
fly over it with one sweep of their wings. And on the 
two banks there were millions of men, the one group 
turned to the other, eye to eye. But the distance 
which separated them was greater than the stars in the 
sky; it was the distance which separates right from 
injustice. 

''The ocean is so great that the sea-gulls do not 
care to cross it. During seven days and seven nights 
the great steamships of America, going at full speed, 
drive through the deep waters, before the lighthouses 
of France come into view. But from one side to the 
other the hearts are touching." 

Perigord believes that the last weeks of July, 191 8, 
shall mean more to the American people than any 
other period in our history since the Civil War. Then 
it was that our stalwart soldiers, clean of limb, clear 
of eye, surpassed our fondest hopes and dreams of 
them; showing the mettle of their grandsires; driving 
against the German lines with a verve and a dash, 
an audacity and intelligent resourcefulness, and — 
above all — with an unflinching courage, that atoned 
(at least against weary and battle-worn troops) for 
lack of experience and training. This astonishing 
spectacle gave Europe, including even the Germans, 
a new view of us, enormously enlarging our prestige. 
It infused fresh blood into France. But beyond this — 



TAITL PERIGORD. THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 199 

it gave us ourselves a new self-respect, and will bring 
us a new lease of life. 

Our boys are sometimes too impetuous. Instead of 
timing themselves to the slow gait necessary so as 
not to reach their own barrao:e ahead of time, thev 
are likely to go "on the jump." and thus encounter 
the danger of military suicide. One day, after fre- 
quent remonstrances to the -\merican officer vrhom 
he was guiding witli American troops on the march 
to their tirst barrage, a Frendi officer lost his temper, 
and called out: 

"Can V you hold back your men?*' 

Whereupon the exasperated American officer re- 
torted : 

"Hold them back, hell I These troops are from Kan- 
sas! 

The Lieutenant can be most amusing. Who that 
heard it can forget his daring stor\- of "the delousing 
hospital" ? 

"We take care of your boys now, but at the be- 
ginning of tlie War there were hardships. I suppose 
that for the first tliree years oi the War I did not sleep 
in a bed more than fom- times. And for tvvent>'-one 
days I had to go without wasliing even my hands. I 
told that to a linle boy in Kansas and he said : 'Mv ! 
weren't you lucky?' But we were not luck}*: for if 
you should go twenty-one days without washing vou 
would soon have about yourselves a good deal more 
company dian you'd ever care for. And so we had 
to establish delousing hospitals. The first bovs who 
came back from them told wonderful stories: thev 



200 THE NATION AT WAR 

had had clean beds to sleep in, and good food, and 
rest; a whole week's vacation. So all the boys wanted 
to go to the delousing hospital. But in order to go 
you have to qualify; there was an examination! So 

the boys that hadn't any, would ask the others: 

'Have you got some? Won't you give me a couple?' 
But the boys that had them became wise, and bye-and- 
bye they said: 'Oh, I'm not giving them away; I'm 
selling them !' And so it is we've had to stop sending 
the boys to a delousing hospital!" 

Amusing, too, is his story of General Pershing and 
the mamselle taxi-driver, which he tells to show, good- 
humouredly, how late we were getting in — "but, thanks 
to God, not too late!" 

They have women chauffeurs now in Paris, because 
there are not men enough to work and fight, too. So 
General Pershing was standing one day, watch in 
hand, waiting for mamselle of the taxi; to whom, 
when at length she whirled up, he said : 

"Mademoiselle, you are three minutes late!" 

Whereupon the little lady, smiling sweetly, said to 
him: 

"But, General ! you were three years late !'* 

Perigord almost invariably begins his address by 
telling of what the French people call "the best speech 
of the War"; when Pershing, at Lafayette's tomb, 
made no oration, but merely bowed his head and said 
simply : 

"Lafayette! we a/re here!" 

God knows we came none too soon. France has 
mobilised seven million men; if we mobilised in pro- 



PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 201 

portion we should call nearly eighteen million troops 
to the colours. Of these seven million Frenchmen 
1,400,000 are slain! Should these dead pass across 
the stage, four abreast, and marching at regular mili- 
tary gait, it would take them twelve days and twelve 
nights to pass by. And yet, so strong is the spirit of 
the women of France, that one striking incident may 
be cited as typical of many. Perigord happened to be 
serving as colour-bearer while his regiment marched 
through a village. An old woman ran out from the 
crowd, knelt on the ground, and buried her face in 
the folds of the flag, kissing its fringe. 

"What is it, mother?" gently asked the Colonel of 
the regiment as Perigord came to a pause with the 
flag. 

Then she handed the GDlonel a letter, which she 
had just received, telling of the death of her fourth 
and last child on the battlefield ; and she was a widow. 
Explaining her strange act in checking the colour- 
bearer, she uttered the supremely beautiful words: 

*T have given all to France ; her flag is my only love ; 
but how proud I am of my flag!" 

The French love the American flag, now, second 
only to their own. Perigord tells of the little girl in 
Philadelphia, where our very first flag was made, 
making an American flag herself and sending it over 
to France. Paris claimed it ; and affixed it to the dome 
of the City Hall, above the flags of the other Allies, 
above the French flag itself — and then Paris said to 
the rest of the world : "The great battle for democ- 
racy is about to be won!" 



20^ THE NATION AT WAR 

While always paying an eloquent tribute to Presi- 
dent Wilson as the world-spokesman of democracy^ 
this Soldier-Priest, loyal to all the facts of our recent 
history, tells his audiences without flinching what they 
thought *'over there" about the phrase, 'Too proud to 
fight." Nor does he forget a tribute to Roosevelt as 
the sturdy apostle of preparedness and as "the ideal 
American father." 

The tensest part of his speech is always toward its 
conclusion, when you can almost hear, as it were, the 
excited pulsebeats of his audience, and detect their 
nervous pallour, as Perigord fearlessly tells us that had 
we not entered the War we never again could have 
sung of America as "the home of the brave," nor yet 
as "the land of the free." 

"Oceans to-day are not barriers, they are bridges. 
And if the British navy were not standing to-day in 
the Atlantic Ocean and the French soldiers dying 
— you cannot imagine the devastation that would come 
to your shores! 

"I know how dreamers have told you — In good 
faith, but dangerous dreamers nevertheless — that you 
should have waited till your shores were invaded, 
when ten million men would spring to their feet. But 
ten million men, my friends, are a crowd, a mob, to be 
mown down like grass before the scythe of war. 

"Besides, have you not been invaded, many times? 
— not materially, but spiritually, which is far worse. 
Belgium was materially invaded, but Belgium has 
never been spiritually invaded. Is it not true that 
these invasions over here went so far that the German 



PAUL PERIGORD, THE SOLDIER-PRIEST 203 

ambassador in Washington dared pluck three stars 
from your flag, and hand them over to a would-be 
enemy on your Southern border, offering to finance 
the war, and intriguing with your powerful neighbour 
on the East to attack you on those Eastern shores 
while planning another attack on you from the West? 
This is not imagination, this is history; and far worse 
you shall know after this War is over. 

"But, be proud, Americans ! for you have redeemed 
yourselves, and can hand down to your children that 
flag, the purest of all the flags of the world, unsullied 
of the stain that forevermore must have dishonoured 
it had you not heeded the summons to duty. 

"And, believe me, the War shall not be ended until 
it is ended right. What you see now in Europe is but 
the first act of a play — and this is the voice of every 
single man in the trenches! — the first act of a play 
that will not be over until the armies of the Allies have 
crossed the Rhine!" 

At Hartford, where we had our last meeting to- 
gether, this flaming evangel of France closed his ap- 
peal with these "words from the dead," written by a 
soldier in the trenches : 

In Flanders fields the poppies grow 
Between the crosses, row by row, 
That mark our place ; and in the sky 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly. 
Scarce heard amid the guns below. 
We are the dead. Short days ago 
We loved, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow,- — 
Loved and were loved. To-day we lie 
In Flanders fields. 



204 THE NATION AT WAR 

Take up our quarrel with the foe! 
To you, from falling hands, we throw 
The torch. Be yours to hold it high ! 
If ye break faith with us who die 
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow 
In Flanders fields. 

He made his speech that evening in Hartford under 
great stress of emotion; for just before we left the 
Club for the immense mass meetings (three thousand 
people in the theatre and two thousand outside), he 
showed me a letter that was awaiting him on our re- 
turn from our tour through New England, advising 
him that the eight lads he loved most dearly, the 
eight lads he had trained with fatherly love and sol- 
dierly devotion to be officers, had every one been slain 
in the recent German advance. There was another 
letter, too, summoning him to return to his regiment, 
the fourteenth infantry, within two weeks. Although 
his last wounds had been so terrible that for a month 
he was completely blind and for three months totally 
paralysed, he had felt, here of late, that he was well 
enough to go back to the trenches, and had himself 
requested reassignment. So he is answering the voices 
of his dead. 



CHAPTER XIV 



AMERICA TO-MORROW 



TALLEYRAND once said that there is a force in 
the world greater than all kings, all cabinets, all par- 
liaments combined, and that force is public opinion. 

Talleyrand's epigram presupposes the organisation 
of public opinion. That is precisely what a democracy 
is — government by organised public opinion ; "govern- 
ment of the people, by the people, for the people," ^ 
instead of government by a caste, a camarilla, or a 
Kaiser. 

There was never a time in our history when it was 
so needful to remind ourselves of this fact, or when 
it has been more important for the Nation to nerve its 
resolution with a consciousness of what public opinion 
can do. The President's most convincing tribute to 
its power is not found in such eloquent phrases as 
''pitiless publicity," with context,^ but in the remark- 
able changes in his own point of view toward the War. 
And, by the same token, that insidious but widespread 
influence toward an inconclusive peace that constitutes 

* Lincoln in uttering those great simple words did not em- 
phasise the three prepositions, he emphasised with ever-increas- 
ing emphasis the word "people." 

'See, for example, "The New Freedom," p. 115, ff. 

205 



«06 THE NATION AT WAR 

our gravest menace at this moment will vanish if an 
intelligent and determined public opinion be formed in 
this country to demand that no peace shall be made 
with Germany until the objects for which we and the 
Allies are fighting have been unquestionably and per- 
manently obtained. By all means peace must then 
be fair and just to all ; America, when the time comes, 
must emulate her great Father by being "first in peace" 
— but, until that time is clearly come, public opinion 
must sternly keep her "first in war/' 

The formation of public opinion depends of course 
on freedom of loyal speech, on the right of constructive 
criticism. As Mr. Elihu Root pointed out in his great 
address on "The Duties of the Citizen,'* debate on the 
subject whether our entrance into the War be right 
or wrong must cease the moment we enter. "A nation 
which declares war and goes on discussing whether it 
ought to have declared war or not is impotent, para- 
lysed, imbecile." On the other hand, constructive criti- 
cism in behalf of winning the War is enjoined by a 
public duty quite as imperative as that which inhibits 
disloyalty. President Wilson can "imagine no greater 
disservice" than to deny to the people of a free Re- 
public like our own their indisputable prerogatives, and 
says : "While exercising the great powers of the office 
I hold, I would regret in the crisis like the one through 
which we are now passing to lose the benefit of pa- 
triotic and intelligent criticism." 

Now, America is afflicted "in spots" with a malady 
of intellectual hook-worm, complicated with pernicious 
moral anaemia, that superinduces in its somewhat nu- 



AMERICA TO-MORROW ^07 

merous victims (our self-styled ''Intelligentsia") a 
contagious preachment against the hatred and denun- 
ciation of evil. If a personal reference is pardonable, 
let me illustrate by the fact that I myself have been 
criticised by one or two doctrinaire journals as a 
"hater" of Hearstism. Of course I hate Mr. Hearst's 
works, and all his ways; if I did not I should be 
ashamed of myself. And it is a very insidious sort 
of deviltry indeed that teaches that to hate evil is 
wrong. I find nothing of this sort of teaching in the 
New Testament, whose pages are of much ruddier 
hue than Mr. George Creel's "Quatrains of Christ." 
The Son of Man blazed out in righteous wrath against 
all spiritual wickedness in high places; never was 
there such a master of denunciation and invective as 
He. He hated Pharisaism and fraud and slimy deceit 
with all the ardour of His holy soul; and, if St. John 
is any true interpreter of His spirit. He hated the 
Laodiceans, who were neither cold nor hot, and so 
He would have spued them out of His mouth! 

We need, surely, not an influx of white corpuscles 
into the veins of our body politic, but, more than 
almost anything else in the world, an infusion of 
red-blooded courage. We need, too, now as always, 
that acute "knowledge of good and evil" acquired 
in the Garden of Eden itself, and any subtle propa- 
ganda to blunt the edge of this knowledge is a sin- 
ister menace to our national life. It is something new 
in the history of the world, this pernicious anaemia 
of the spirit. Sentimentalists of both sexes fall an 
easy prey to its soft infection; and Uncle Sam is in- 



W8 THE NATION AT WAR 

deed a sick giant unless the tonic of an iron public will 
shall be the antidote to its poison. 

I call attention to this pious fraud that infects some 
of our political writings, for the reason that America 
to-morrow will require as never before to exercise a 
courageous discrimination regarding its public men 
and public measures. If such men as Vardaman and 
Hardwick and Blease are to sit in the Senate from the 
South, or if La Follette is returned from Wisconsin 
or Gronna from North Dakota or Reed from Mis- 
souri, then do not the voters in those States thereby 
prove their unfitness for the critical needs of the hour? 

Public discrimination must exercise itself to set bet- 
ter men in our seats of authority, and it must also 
accept the stern task of improving our legislative ma- 
chinery. Of the last regular session of Congress be- 
fore we entered the War one of our national reviews 
wrote so trenchantly that its words cut themselves 
into the memory by the very force of their whiplash 
hyperbole. 

"It was garrulous, wasteful, amorphous, frivolous 
and foolish,'* wrote Mr. Walter Lippmann of that 
Congress.^ **It wasted money like a drunken 
sailor and time like a babbling idiot. It could not 
think, it would not imagine, it could not organise, it 
could not act. It squabbled over trifles, grunted and 
rooted, and left the country in chaos. It spoiled what- 
ever it touched, obstructed everything it was asked to 
assist, attended to everybody's business but its own. 
It conducted raiding parties against the treasury, 

' The New Republic, March lo, 1917. 



AMERICA TO-MORROW 209 

against the Administration, it died with the curse of 
a nation upon it, a soiled and debauched thing." 

Anxious to correct such abuses, this critic con- 
tinues : 

"No mere reform which introduces cloture into the 
Senate rules will make Congress a decent instrument 
of democracy. The evil is far deeper, arising in the 
last analysis from the Constitution itself. We have 
tried to construct a Government in which leadership 
is divorced from responsibility, a Government in 
which those who make the laws have no organic rela- 
tion to those who execute them, a Government in which 
head, heart and limbs are separate bodies without in- 
ternal connection. And because no Government is 
workable on that principle, we have seen the growth 
behind the legal Government of a party system which 
lives as a parasite upon the Government, is fed by 
pork, held together by patronage; which has created 
out of the separation of powers a perilous confusion 
of powers. The thing has broken down at last, as 
all observers knew it would, and we are now in a sit- 
uation where only the most revolutionary changes in 
the congressional system can save representative gov- 
ernment in America." 

While the Congresses succeeding the one so vio- 
lently criticised have been vastly better, and have sup- 
ported the Administration's war measures without 
stint, Americans need soberly to consider these sug- 
gestions of Governmental reform. 

Of course everything that is written of "America 
to morrow" presupposes that we win the present War; 



210 THE NATION AT WAR 

for if the Central Powers win, democracy will perish 
from the earth. A democracy is not necessarily a re- 
public; the democracy of England is more pliable and 
responsive than our own. The English-speaking peo- 
ple originated and developed the democracy of modem 
times, Runnymede and Marston Moor and Bunker 
Hill being consecutive milestones in its progress, Crom- 
well and Washington and Lincoln belonging to one 
unbroken historical succession. But the French 14th 
of July means as much to modern democracy as our 
own 4th of July; Mazzini and Garibaldi and Cavour 
are cousins germane to the great English-speaking 
line ; and Japan, with constitutional government, is be- 
coming progressively democratic in spirit, while poor 
Russia has swung for the moment into anarchy, a 
pseudo-democracy gone mad. You have a complete 
institutional antithesis in the lining up of this War. 
Prussia? So long ago as April 11, 1847, Frederic 
William IV., in a speech from the Prussian Throne, 
snapped his fingers at ''all written constitutions'* as 
being ''only scraps of paper." So recently as in 1914, 
in his Proclamation to the Army of the East, William 
II. declared: "The spirit of the Lord has descended 
upon ME because I am the Emperor of the Germans! 
/ am the instrument of the Almighty. / am His sword. 
His agent! Woe and death to all those who shall 
oppose MY will ! Woe and death to those who do not 
believe in MY mission! Woe and death to the cow- 
ards! Let them perish, all the enemies of the Ger- 
man people! God demands their destruction, God 
who, by MY mouth, bids you to do His will !" 



AMERICA TO-MORROW ^11 

And the German people cried, Amen! while the 
German army rushed to spread with fire and sword 
the Kultur-gospel of this new Mahomet, whose mailed 
fist seeks to strike democracy a mortal blow upon 

the heart. 

If Germany wins, freedom perishes, the Individual 
is enslaved to the State. One of the most learned of 
German scholars, long a resident but never a citizen 
of this country, in comparing their and our theories 
of government, says: 

"For the German, the State is not for the individ- 
uals, but the individuals for the State. It is the same ^ 
contrast which gives to every realm of German civih- ^ 
sation its deepest meaning. The American view is . 
that science and art and law, like the State, exist fc- 
the good of the individual persons; their value is to 
serve them (the people). The Germans believe that 
science and art and law and State are valuable in 
themselves, and that the highest glory^ of the indi- 
vidual is to serve those eternal values." 

It is significantly added that "the very scope of the 
German idea can afford no smaller sphere than the 
world itself"— a world in which the individual be- 
comes a mere cog in a machine more remorseless and 
more insatiate than all the inhuman Tamerlanes of 

history. 

As for us— "we must be free or die who speak the 
tongue that Shakespeare spoke and hold the faith that 

Milton held." 

If Germany wins, democracy vanishes, liberty per- 



212 THE NATION AT WAR 

ishes from the earth, and not only so, but the Qiristian 
rehgion itself disappears. The Ten Commandments 
will then make way for the "Ten Iron Command- 
ments of the German Soldiers," formulated and pro- 
mulgated by General von der Goltz, and obeyed re- 
morselessly by German soldiers in the ravaged fields 
of France and the ravished homes of Belgium. ''Grow 
hard, warriors!" say these new ''iron commandments"; 
"The soldier must be hard! It is better to let a hun- 
dred women and children belonging to the enemy die 
of hunger than to let a single German soldier suffer 
its pangs." With modern Prussia the beatitudes have 
become a derision, the Sermon on the Mount a laugh- 
ing-stock, the 13th chapter of Corinthians is but sound- 
"^ing brass and tinkling cymbals, and the iron cross 
blasphemes the cross of Calvary. Out of their own 
mouths do we judge them. The spirit even of Ger- 
man clergymen is fairly expressed by what Pastor D. 
Baumgarten said in exultation over the Lusitania in- 
cident: "Any one who cannot bring himself to ap- 
prove from the bottom of his heart the sinking of the 
Lusitania . . . and give himself up to honest joy 
at this victorious exploit of German defensive power 
— such an one we deem no true German." 

The events of recent months renew the optimism 
that we had all but lost in the dark latter days of last 
March. While on constant guard against over-opti- 
mism, while resolved that no seeming success shall lead 
us to abate one jot or tittle of endeavour until security 
shall be doubly sure, we are nevertheless warranted 



AMERICA TO-MORROW ^13 

in turning again to the prospect of a world set free, 
a new world, the world of to-morrow, far different 
from the world that has been. Let us plan, then, to 
set our national house in good order for the home- 
coming of the boys— two years hence or even ten 
years hence, when they return to a new America. 

Of one thing we may feel very certain: they will 
bring with them an expansive and regenerative force 
that America stands sorely in need of. It is a thnlhng 
thing that America at last may belong to the world. 
Accustomed as we have been to ridicule the insularity 
of England, we have been blind to the fact of our 
own continental, colossal provincialism, compared with 
which ''right little, tight little" England, one some- 
times thinks, is Cosmopolis itself. Our great teacher 
Shakespeare has taught us that "there is some soul 
of goodness in things evil, would men observingly dis- 
til it out." So even out of this terrible War, if it ends 
aright, there will come marching back to us the stal- 
wart builders of a new Republic— enriched by inten- 
sive experience, ennobled by hardship and sacrifice, 
their sympathies deepened by a common suffering with 
other kindred peoples that are just as good as we are, 
to say the least; bringing, let us trust, a new explosive 
force that will shatter our smug and complacent pro- 
vincialism to atoms, and so set us free to be neighbours 
to the world of our kin. It is true of nations as of 
men that whosoever would find his life shall lose it. 
Hitherto we have been abiding alone; henceforth we 
shall have life more abundantly through a common 



^14 THE NATION AT WAR 

touch with our spiritual kin among mankind. Just as 
the returning Crusaders of Europe, illumined by the 
educative values of travel and inspired by sacrificial 
service in a holy cause, were precursors of the great 
Renaissance, so let us hope that our own returning 
Crusaders will find us ready for some mighty Revival 
in common with our kin across the sea. 

Already we clasp hands with our Mother land. The 
virtual alliance in which we find ourselves with Eng- 
land is ^ logical conclusion far too long delayed. Let 
me repeat that it is only the shallowest and narrowest 
view of history that regards our Revolutionary War 
as other than one in the long sequence of the revolts 
af English-speaking people against tyrants. The 
American colonists were predominantly and essentially 
Englishmen, removed merely by the accident of dis- 
tance from the soil enriched by the blood of their 
fathers as they fought with other liberty-loving Eng- 
lishmen to set up milestones along the path they helped 
to blaze in behalf of Anglo-Saxon democracy. So in 
that war that we call our own Revolution not even 
Patrick Henry himself was more eloquent in the Amer- 
ican interest than Burke and Pitt in the British Parlia- 
ment, as we made common cause with those fine pa- 
triots against the Hanoverian King George HI., with 
his petty but intolerable tyrannies, supported by his 
mercenary Hessian soldiers. Just as we claim Hamp- 
den, England claims Washington, and Yorktown itself 
was but an overseas victory for British democracy. 
We are bone of her bone, our Mother England; our 



AIMERICA TO-MORROW 215 

traditions are wrought from her fibre, as our speech 
is a gift from her tongue^ 

* Contemporary "German-Americans" may read to advantage 
this quaint letter written in 1695 by the German colonist Pas- 
torius to his children : 

"Dear Children, John, Samuel and Henry Pastorius : Though 
you are of high Dutch Parents, yet remember that your father 
was Naturalised, and ye born in an English colony. Conse- 
quently each of you Anglus Natus an Englishman by birth. 
Therefore it would be a shame for you if you should be ignorant 
of the English Tongue, the Tongue of your Countrymen; but 
that you may learn the better I have left a book for you both, 
and commend the same to your reiterated perusal. If you 
should not get much of the Latin, nevertheless read ye the 
English part oftentimes OVER AND OVER AND OVER. 
And I assure you that Semper aliquid hcrrabit."— Courteously 
furnished by Elsie Singmaster, who said in a letter to the 
author (July 24, 1918) : 

"The loyalty of the early immigrants is shown chiefly, it seems 
to me, by their active participation in the life of the colonies. 
Pastorius expresses it clearly in this letter; Conrad Weiser 
showed it not only in his extraordinary services to the colony, 
but in various recorded expressions, for instance: 

" 'Permit me to put you (the German settlers) in mind that 
as we for the most part retired into this country for peace 
and safety's sake and to get our living easier than in Ger- 
many, we not only have obtained our ends in all this, but we 
have 'also been well received and protected by the governors 
of this province, especially by the present governor, and it is 
not long since his majesty of Great Britain by an act of his 
parliament invested us (German) Protestants upon very easy 
terms with so many privileges and liberties whatsoever that a 
native born Englishman can enjoy.'" 

"In another letter he expresses his admiration for English 

law. 

"I see no evidence that even the resistance of the Pennsyl- 
vania Germans' to some colonial regulations was accompanied 
by any feeling of loyalty toward the Fatherland from which 
they had fled. That the Kaiser should ever have dreamed that 



^16 THE NATION AT WAR 

On the 4th of July, 19 14, I happened to be coming 
home from England — a month to the day before the 
Great War unexpectedly opened. As passengers will, 
the travellers on that ill-fated Arabic (later torpedoed 
by a lawless German submarine) arranged a 4th of 
July celebration. This one had peculiar significance, 
because our two countries were celebrating their cen- 
tennial of peace ; it was just a hundred years since the 
signing of the Treaty of Ghent. So, as my own trivial 
contribution to that Anglo-American evening on ship- 
board, I wrote a few verses that now seem to me, in 
spite of their crudeness, weighted with momentous 
meaning. For my jingle of verses, framed as they 
are on a memory of the Landseer sculpture of lions in 
Trafalgar Square, were, although I did not dream of 
such a thing then, a prophecy ; and surely it is a glori- 
ous "soul of goodness'* in the evil of this War that 
words so lightly figurative four years ago have, by 
this War, been made most literal : 

the descendants of these voluntary exiles should feel loyalty 
toward a country which did not really exist in 1700 was ab- 
surd. The fact that they continued to speak German had no 
significance for his cause. 

"I know of 'pro-Germans' among the Pennsylvania Ger- 
mans, but they are few and lack judgment in other ways. The 
Kaiser would be dumbfounded to hear himself denounced in 
his own tongue — though perhaps he is beginning to suspect 
now the real state of affairs. A few weeks ago an acquaint- 
ance of my father said to him in Pennsylvania German, 'I am 
appalled when I think of my boys fighting the brutal Ger- 
mans» You and I know what the foreign Germans who have 
lived in this village are like.'" 



AMERICA TO-MORROW «17 

The lion throned in his island home 

Looks wistfully out to sea 

With a touch of grace 

On his battle-scarred face 

And a mellower majesty 

As he broods on the cubs 

That have fared them forth 

To the uttermost ends of the earth — 

India, Africa, Canada, 

Australia, and Arctic firth— 

But chiefly on him of the eldest birth 

With a hemisphere for his home 

Who fought his sire 

With passionate ire 

And set up a rule of his own. 

A hundred years in a lion's life 

Is a span, could he speak as man; 

The old lion deems it but yesterday 

Since the rule of the whelp began; 

And anger dies in a lion's heart 

With the moment that gives it birth; 

So the old sire yearns toward the lusty cub 

That conquered half of the earth. 

And the whelp, who a hundred years agone 
In heat with his father strove— 
His heart has cooled ; and has warmed agam, 
And the warmth is the warmth of love. 

So these lions who guard the Atlantic sea 
Have vowed o'er its bosom vast 
That blood is thicker than waters be, 
And sealed a truce that shall last 
Till men with mirth 
Shall acclaim one birth — 



^18 THE NATION AT WAR 

"All peoples of one blood be" — 
When the knowledge of God 
Shall cover the earth 
As the waters cover the sea. 



The great Englishman Joseph Chamberlain prophet- 
ically said of us in 1898: "There is a powerful and 
generous nation. They speak our language. They 
are bred of our race. Their laws, their literature, their 
standpoint upon every question, are the same as ours 
. . . the more cordial, the fuller and the more definite 
these arrangements are, with the consent of both peo- 
ples, the better it will be for both and for the world ; 
and I even go so far as to say that, terrible as war 
may be, even war itself would be cheaply purchased 
if, in a great and noble cause, the Stars and Stripes 
and the Union Jack should wave together over an 
Anglo-Saxon Alliance." 

Of course we should not limit our alliance to Eng- 
land ; it should include all of the genuine democracies 
of the world. 

Most of all we should conclude forever an insepar- 
able alliance with our sister Republic, la belle France! 
It is a "soul of goodness" in the evil of this War that 
America, long blind, is at last awake to the spiritual 
beauty of her twin sister across the Atlantic. "Friv- 
olous," "frail," even "decadent," we have called her; 
to realise now, in the incandescent light of this War, 
that what we called frivolity is but the laughing, rip- 
pling surface of a nobility as deep as the ocean — that 
what we called frailty was but her gay "camouflage" 



AMERICA TO-MORROW 219 

for sinews of unbending steel — and that, instead of 
decadence, France has since 1870 enjoyed a renais- 
sance, has risen and cHmbed and stood upon glorious 
resurrection heights from which now she beckons, and 
bids us to chnib up and stand at her side. To com- 
memorate the centenary of our independence she sent 
her great bronze gift across the water and stood it up 
in New York harbour. We are now sending our boys 
by the milHon to aid her in the eternal establishment 
of her own independence, and to aid her further in her 
gigantic task of setting up on the watch-towers of 
Europe her own radiant and heroic monument of lib- 
erty enlightening the world. 

Just as this War has already established us in new 
international relations, in new relations toward people 
of other lands separated from us by oceans, so when 
the boys come marching home let us hope they will 
bring with them a new intelligence and a quickened 
spirit that will inspire us to fairer and more intelli- 
gent relations with people of other lands that seek 
whole-heartedly to become naturalised citizens of our 
own. *'In the last decade, over 10,000,000 immigrants 
entered the United States with presumed intent to 
make this their home and the land of their devotion. 
Three millions returned to Europe after completing 
varied terms of labour, and of the seven millions re- 
maining, only two and a half millions have given 
formal evidence of any desire for citizenship. Two- 
thirds of the seven millions have never learned the 
English language [the language of Washington and 
Lincoln] with any degree of mastery, nor is the money 



^20 THE NATION AT WAR 

earned by this army of foreigners invested in the 
United States or even deposited in American banks. 
In some years the amount sent abroad by aliens has 
reached the huge total of $300,000,000. One-third 
quitting the land that was to have been their home, 
two-thirds holding aloof from citizenship and common 
interest, two-thirds unable or unwilling to learn the 
tongue of their adopted country, and the great ma- 
jority rushing their savings back to Europe! No 
record of failure was ever written so plainly." ^ 

The melting-pot has not been melting. Let us be 
sure that the trouble is not altogether in the material 
that has poured into the pot; the trouble is largely in 
our failure to feed with the prepared fuel of foresight 
that flaming warmth of brotherhood which alone can 
melt and transmute and purify many peoples into 
one, and make true our motto, "E pluribus unum." 
The War has brought us to a sharp national conscious- 
ness of the menace involved in huge masses of un- 
assimilated human material; it must quicken our na- 
tional conscience to action, so that by wisely consid- 
ered laws we may restrict immigration to assimilable 
quantities, and then protect and treat in a spirit of 
wise fostering brotherhood the so-called aliens ad- 
mitted. At present, commissaries rob them, we are 
told, contractors cheat them, and even the courts and 
the lawyers are permitted to confuse and defeat them 
when they have recourse to our institutions for justice. 
"Am I my brother^s keeper?" — that was the question 

* George Creel in "The Hopes of the Hyphenated," in the 
Century Magazine, 1915. 



AMERICA TO-MORROW 221 

of Cain. When our Crusaders come back from the 
front let us hope they will quicken in us a new spirit. 
With our broader international vision let us take up 
that fine old saying of the Latin poet Terence : "I am 
a human, and nothing that is human can be alien to 
me"— and, paraphrasing it to apply to our own in- 
ternal internationalism, take as our motto the words : 
*T am an American; and no one seeking to be an 
American can be an alien to me." 

America to-morrow must be humanised. Clouds 
loom ominous along the horizon, and only the sunlight 
of brotherhood can give them silver linings. There 
is one cloud that does not need to be looked for ; it is 
larger than the shadow of a man's hand, and that is 
the way it is shaped; it is the problem of labour. 
Labour has awakened to a new consciousness of its 
power in consequence of this War in a manner to 
challenge our highest constructive thought and our 
widest sympathies. "Hands," you may depend upon 
it, will never be mere hands again ; there are brains 
and hearts behind them, with a sense of rights and of 
wrongs, with a newly aroused dignity, with vision, 
and with a rightful demand for brotherhood. Con- 
descension on the part of capital must give way to 
comradeship, patronage must be supplanted by partner- 
ship, class and mass must vanish in the meeting of 
man with man. 

America to-morrow must be humanised. Science 
must be humanised. "The scholar's taper in his room 
on high shall be a star to pierce the utmost dark, and 
guide poor men." Religion must be humanised. 



222 THE NATION AT WAR 

Squarely opposed to the Antichrist dogma of Prus- 
sian ideals of the State, quoted on page 211, is the 
doctrine of Christ, deep and far-reaching : *The Sab- 
bath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." 
So the Church was made for man, not man for the 
Church, and to this truth the Church must awaken. 

American politics must be humanised, with politics 
all over the world. True religion must be applied to 
politics. As Arthur Henderson says, "In a wider 
sense than has hitherto been understood, the politics 
of the future will be human politics and the dominat- 
ing party will be the party of the common people, and 
of democracy. This is certain. The people will have 
it so, for the people are weary of wars. They have 
borne too long the inequalities and injustices inherent 
in an economic system based on competition instead 
of co-operation. . . . We want to replace the material 
force of arms by the moral force of right in the 
governance of the world." 

"Is it a dream? 

Nay, but the lack of it a dream. 

And failing it life's lore and wealth a dream, 

And all the world a dream." ^ 

♦ * * 

Almighty God, Who rules f over all things in Heaven 
and on earth, and before Whom all the might of m^an 
is less than vanity: Mercifully regard the scenes of 
desolation and anguish that have come upon the world. 
Bring Thou an end to the reign of violence. Make 

"Walt Whitman. 



AMERICA TO-MORROW 223 

wars to cease unto the end of the earth. Break Thou 
the how; hum Thou the chariot in the fire! Scatter 
the people that delight in war, and let all kings and 
riders know that Thou art God, even Thou only. 

Give success to our arms on land and sea. Be with 
our soldiers and sailors at all times, in camp, and at 
sea, and as they face the enemy. Not only protect 
and defend them from all peril of hody and soul, hut 
make their arms effective to the maintenance of right, 
and the deliverance of the world from wrong and 
oppression. Arise, O Lord, as in the days of old. 
Be Thou a wall of fire about our hosts. Let God 
arise, let His enemies he scattered; as smoke is driven 
away, so drive them away; and grant us and all na- 
tions speedy, just and lasting peace.^ 

*This prayer was said and afterwards written out at request 
by Dean Henry R Jacobs, LL.D., of the Lutheran Theological 
Seminary at Mount Airy, Philadelphia. 



APPENDIX A 

THE author's resignation, ETC. 

From the New York Times of June 25, igi8: 

Dr. Scherer Quits Defense Council Because of Hearst — 
Charges That Secretary Baker Warned Speakers Against 
Attacking Certain Newspapers — Says Members Are 
Gagged — Declares Hearst Seeks to Hide Behind Skirts of 
Administration When Assailed — Other Speakers Stopped 
— Dr. Scherer Asserts That He Has Resigned to Retain 
His Rights to Free Speech 

Dr. James A. B. Scherer, President of Throop 
College of Technology, at Pasadena, Cal., and Chief Field 
Agent of the Council of National Defense, State Coun- 
cils Section, announced yesterday that he had resigned 
the latter post and made public his reasons in the fol- 
lowing open letter to Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, 
who is Chairman of the Council of National Defense : 

Hon. Newton D. Baker, Chairman of the Council 
OF National Defense. 

Sir: — I have this day handed Director W. S. Gifford 
my resignation as a member of the Council of National 
Defense, State Councils Section, and I herewith repeat 
it to you. Ordinarily, this resignation would have no 
public importance whatever; but the extraordinary cir- 
cumstances that caused it seem important enough to call 
for the fullest publicity. I am resigning because of your 

225 



S26 THE NATION^'AT WAR 

policy in warning representatives of the Council, includ- 
ing myself, against freedom of speech in denouncing 
certain newspapers as inimical to the national defense. 

I began this denunciation before joining the Council. 
In **The Japanese Crisis," published in April, 1916, (a 
study of the California- Japanese question,) I wrote of 
the mischief wrought by Hearst's two California "Exam- 
iners" — some Westerners pronounce them *'Eczemanas !" 
— in endangering American relations with Japan.^ So far 
as I now recollect, my first public condemnation of Hearst 
policies after becoming field agent (at a dollar a year) 
of the State Councils Section of the National Council 
a year ago, occurred last January, when I happened to 
be at home, in Pasadena. On receiving an invitation to 
become a patron of The Los Angeles Examiner's scheme 
for rebuilding French cities destroyed by the Kaiser I 
published in The Los Angeles Times a letter contain- 
ing the words: "I cannot escape the impression that the 
scheme originated with a notorious newspaper exponent 
of self-exploitation with an exceedingly unsavoury past. 
I am unwilling to lend my name as a patch on the gar- 
ment of quasi-patriotic rehabilitation with which the 
Hearst papers are seeking to cover their record of shame 
while still pursuing a subtle and insidious propaganda 
for impeding our winning of the War." 

This, however, brought you no protest that I know of. 
A few days later, speaking for the National Council 
at the Illinois War Conference in Chicago, I used and 

* "California is little given to *war scares/ being inclined to 
laugh at the fulminations of perfervid Merrimac heroes and to 
frown on the misrepresentations of Hearst newspapers as mali- 
cious and mischievous." — p. 41. "Our Japanese problem will 
vanish into thin air if we substitute in dealing with it the spirit 
of Townsend Harris for the spirit of Hearst; the spirit of the 
gentleman and statesman for that of the journalist one of whose 
writers was actually audacious enough to boast in a published 
book that his paymaster brought on the American war with 
Spain (J. Creelman, "On the Great Highway": Boston, 1901, 
ch. ix., Familiar Glimpses of Yellow Journalism, For examples 
of grotesquely mendacious attempts to foment strife with Japan, 
see files of the Los Angeles Examiner, October, 1915)." — pp. 
63, 64, "The Japanese Crisis," Scherer. 



THE AUTHOR'S RESIGNATION, ETC. 227 

indorsed the following words of one of my colleagues, in 
warning the people against the grave menace of an incon- 
clusive peace : 

"Some time Germany is going to make a plausible peace 
proposal. This will, of course, be a camouflaged war 
move. She may offer to yield Belgium and even to pay 
some indemnity; indeed, she will yield anything except 
the Pan-Germanic empire which she now holds, extend- 
ing from the North Sea to Bagdad. Her policy will be 
elastic in the West and adamant in the East. When this 
hour comes every pacifist, every England-hater, every 
secret or open pro-German, every half-baked Socialist, 
every weak-kneed sister in trousers or petticoats will 
clamor for the acceptance of the German proposal; or, 
at least, for a council of the nations at which Germany 
can get the powers about the table and juggle the cards. 
At the same time the twelve or fourteen great dailies 
owned and controlled by William Randolph Hearst will 
let out a strident blast for stopping bloodshed — in other 
words, a peace 'made in Germany.' " ^ 

This warning I have repeated in various States when 
speaking at their recent War Conferences. I have also 
publicly condemned the Hearst papers (with others) for 
seeking to make it appear that this War is not so much 
our war as it is that of England and France. 

That my prophecy concerning the probable Hfearst 
policies regarding a German peace is not unfounded ap- 
pears, for example, from The New York Amerkan's 
statement of Sept. 15, 1917, as follows: "The best peace 
for all concerned is a peace without victory, a peace with- 
out conquest, a peace without indemnities." And Mr. 
Brisbane, who ought to know, wrote in The Washing- 
ton Times, Aug. 8, 1917 : "The most powerful and effec- 
tive peace worker in this country is William Randolph 
Hearst. The world wants peace. It is more important 
than victory." Little wonder, Mr. Secretary, that the 
Cologne Volkszeitung commends the Hearst papers 
as "auxiliaries for us (the Germans) of valued influ- 

* For a brief economic argument against an inconclusive peace, 
see Appendix B. 



228 THE NATION AT WAR 

ence," as quoted in The New York Tribune of yesterday. 
The other day (June 19) Mr. F. W. Kellogg of The 
San Francisco Call came to my office in Washington, 
saying that Mr. Jackson of The Oregon Journal — whom 
he characterized as a warm friend of the Administra- 
tion — had complained of my reference to the Hearst 
papers in a speech made at Portland in May; that he, 
Kellogg, had shown a copy of Jackson's letter to Hearst; 
and that Hearst had requested him to ask me why I 
dislike him. I said that the reason in a nutshell is that 
I regard Mr. Hearst's newspaper policies as having been 
treasonable in so far as he has dared to make them so, 
and his influence as the most pernicious in American life. 
Kellogg conceded that a member of the Cabinet had got 
him to go to Hearst a year ago to persuade him to alter 
some of his policies, but claimed that since then he has 
been "good." In contravention of this I cited certain 
-editorials that I happened to have just at hand. Kellogg 
advanced the powerful argument, in behalf of Hearst's 
present goodness, that President Wilson has himself re- 
cently intervened for the restoration of Hearst's cable 
privileges, removed by the English ; but I find it difficult 
to believe that the President has used the almost irre- 
sistible powers of his high office to induce the British 
Government to show favor to a news service that they 
have adjudged inimical to our great cause, as have also 
the Canadians, to say nothing of the French, whose offi- 
cial announcement said of the Hearst organization, "the 
connivance of which with the enemy is certain" (quoted 
by New York Tribune, June 23, 1918). Kellogg's whole 
contention seemed to be that, since the Hearst papers 
support the Administration, they are therefore wholly 
loyal to our cause; he even said that Roosevelt should 
be condemned rather than Hearst, seeing that the latter 
supports the Administration (at present), while the for- 
mer frequently criticises it. He also claimed — and "con- 
spiracy" is evidently a catchword with the Hearst inter- 
ests nowadays — that there is a "vast conspiracy" through- 
out the country to injure the Hearst papers out of envy 
of their business success. I finally told him that the 



THE AUTHOR'S RESIGNATION, ETC. 229 

only way to shut me up as a member of the Council would 
be to have me put out. 

The next day I was officially informed that Mr. Kel- 
logg had called at the War Office, and that when the 
Administration has decided on a policy everybody con- 
nected therewith must abide by it. What this policy is 
I already knew. For I am not the only offender. An- 
other representative of the Council at these recent War 
Conferences has been complained of in a telegram from 
a Hearst agent, for speaking (far less frequently and 
more mildly than I have done), in warning the people 
against the Hearst influence, and I had seen your memo- 
randum, Mr. Secretary, attached to this telegram, in- 
structing speakers that hereafter they must not indulge 
in discriminatory remarks as to the relative values of 
newspapers. This was officially sent to me, with the 
request to "note and return." The language is diplo- 
matic, but there can be no doubt as to its meaning. Mr, 
Hearst, who, for the sake of scandal-mongering pennies, 
habitually assails individuals in his great group of "Ex- 
aminer/' and other peep-Tom newspapers— Mr. Hearst 
now seeks to creep under the skirts of the Administra- 
tion when an individual assails his newspapers for dis- 
loyalty, not to the ^'Administration," indeed, but to the 
Government itself as involved in the greatest War in our 
history ; and, apparently, the skirt is uplifted to receive 
him. I resign, and so retain my freedom of speech 
and my right to keep the oath I took on entering the 
Council— to give absolute allegiance to the Government, 
and to protect and defend it against all of its enemies, 
domestic and foreign.^ Deeming Mr. Hearst, as I do, 

^The exact words are: "I do solemnly swear that I will sup- 
port and defend the Constitution of the United States against 
all enemies, foreign and domestic" (see p. 58). I did not have 
a copy of the oath by me when writing the foregoing letter. 
The Constitution is of course the quintessential expression of the 
Government. Incidentally, it guarantees the right of freedom 
of loyal speech, and defines treason as giving aid and comfort 
to the enemy. It would be unfortunate for us to permit the 
words "Government" and "Administration" to become synony- 



mous. 



^30 THE NATION AT WAR 

the Bolo Pacha of American journahsm — our most in- 
sidious and dangerous internal foe,^ just as the Kaiser is 
our most dangerous foreign enemy — I must, apparently, 
in order to keep my oath, resign from the Council ! I 
trust you will consider carefully this point of view, Mr. 
Slecretary, before suggesting to local councils of defense 
throughout the country that they must not discriminate 

* I agree with the following analysis of Mr, Hearst's probable 
motives, but not with the conclusion : "Not being hampered by 
deep convictions or by high journalistic and ethical standards 
he exploits whatever policies promise the best results in profits 
and power. Often supporting good causes, he most persistently 
capitalises for his papers the manifold forces of discontent, hatred 
and prejudice. His essential policy is to cultivate the support 
of classes and groups whose passions can be incited and turned 
to account. 

"It is a fair presumption, we think, that when the war began 
Mr. Hearst surveyed the field in a perfectly cold-blooded way, 
and shaped his course upon this principle. He found all the 
New York newspapers, except his own, ranged against Ger- 
many, and saw an opportunity to ingratiate himself with the 
large German population in the metropolitan district by giving 
them their sole English language paper. He had always played 
for the anti-English Irish element, and the pro-German Irish 
group would be a valuable asset. He had a German-printed 
newspaper to promote. A multitude of Russian Jews, of the 
extreme radical type which produced Bolshevism, provided an- 
other promising field. Distrust of Japan in California could be 
exploited. 

"Thus there were many reasons apart from pro-German sen- 
timent to inspire the Hearst decision as a matter of business. 
And the gains would seem to a calculating mind to be sure. 
If Germany won against the Allies, as Hearst confidently be- 
lieved she would, he would be a figure of great influence and 
power in this country; if she lost, he would be in a position to 
advocate an alliance between Germany and the United States 
to resist the 'aggression' of Britain, the victor. . . . 

"Many Americans who have been incensed and shocked by the 
flagrant course of these journals have been mystified by the 
failure of the government to check the systematic rendering of 
aid and comfort to the enemy. . . . We are satisfied that Mr. 
Hearst is not at heart a traitor to the nation; that his purpose 
has not been to sell his country, but to sell newspapers." 

It is a strange conclusion. The Constitution defines treason 
as giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and "selling newspapers" 
is in this case the equivalent of a good deal more money than the 
famous "thirty pieces of silver." 



JHE AUTHOR'S RESIGNATION, ETC. 231 

regarding newspapers of which they are reported to be 
making bonfires. 

James A. B. Scherer. 
June 24, 191 8. 

Dr. Scherer is still a member of the Industrial Service 
Department of the Emergency Fleet Corporation, United 
States Shipping Board. 



From the New York Tribune of June 26, ipi8: 

Baker Admits Order Gagging Hearst Critics — Secretary De- 
clares That Restriction Applied to All Papers 

(Special Despatch to The Tribune) 

WASHINGTON, June 25.— Secretary Baker to-day 
accepted the charge brought against him by Dr. James 
A. B. Scherer, who resigned from the Council of Na- 
tional Defense because, he said, the Secretary of War 
had forbidden members of that body to criticise the 
loyalty of the Hearst newspapers. Mr. Baker admitted 
that after Hearst agents had complained to him of Dr. 
Scherer's attacks, he had issued a general order instruct- 
ing Council members to refrain from attacking any news- 
papers. 

The Secretary of War also said that the Hearst com- 
plaint had been to the effect that Dr. Scherer had spent 
"a lot of time criticising in harsh terms the Hearst news- 
papers." 

Dr. Scherer's letter of resignation, in which he charges 
that the Hearst influence has penetrated the Council of 
National Defense, had not been received by the Secre- 
tary of War late to-day, Mr. Baker said. He dictated 
the following answer in explanation of his decision that 
criticism of any newspaper must not be made by mem- 
bers of official organisations: 

"Some one — I believe a representative of one of the 
Hearst papers — had told me that a representative of 



2S2 THE NATION AT WAR 

the Council of National Defense was making addresses 
and spending a lot of his time criticising in harsh terms 
the Hjearst papers. I told Mr. Gifford that I thought 
nobody who is officially representing the government 
ought to be criticising any newspaper — I don't care 
whether it is Hearst's paper or anybody's else — and that 
I thought, while I hadn't the slightest desire to prevent 
any man expressing his individual opinion upon any 
newspaper, I did not think that any man as a representa- 
tive of the government ought to criticise any newspaper." 

Walter S. Gifford, director of the Council of National 
Defense, declared that Secretary Baker's order in the 
Scherer case was a general expression of policy of the 
Council, and as such it was sent to all members of the 
Council and not to Dr. Scherer alone. He said that Dr. 
Scherer's resignation had not yet been received by him, 
and until it is received he would withhold comment. 

Director Gifford, however, said that Dr. Scherer had 
been one of the Council's most energetic workers during 
the last year, and had "performed splendid and efficient 
work as chief field agent.'* 

The decision in the Scherer case, Mr. Gifford said, 
only applied to members of the Council of National De- 
fense, and would not extend to the members of State 
Councils. He said that the National Council, however, 
had to make general policies as a guide to members of 
the organisation, and that the order directed by Secretary 
Baker was the enunciation that must be rigidly ad- 
hered to. 

Mr. Gifford indicated that the resignation of Dr. 
Scherer would be accepted when it was received. He 
was not prepared to-night to say who in the Council 
of National Defense would be selected to carry on the 
work outlined by Dr. Scherer. 



THE AUTHOR'S RESIGNATION, ETC. 233 

From the New York Tribune of July 20, ipi8: 

This Hearst and That One 

To THE Editor of the Tribune. 

Sir: — A friend has just shown me The Los Angeles 
Examiner of July 5, containing an editorial article en- 
titled *'Dr. Scherer and Secretary of War Baker — What 
a Contrast!" Undoubtedly, there is a contrast between 
Secretary Baker and myself, but the public is not in- 
terested in it. The public is greatly interested, however, 
in the contrast between the Hearst of May, 1918, and 
the Hearst of May, 1917. 

Since the i6th of May, 1918, when the President signed 
the sedition act, penalizing with heavy fines or imprison- 
ment, or both, those who seek "to promote the success 
of our enemies," "to obstruct the sale by the United 
States of bonds," or "by word or act support or favor 
the cause of any country with which the United States 
is at war, or by word or act oppose the cause of the 
Uhited States therein" — since May 16, 1918, Mr. Hearst 
has seemed to be good, and will perhaps seem so for 
a season, since he now advertises his "loyalty" with his 
own full-page affidavits. 

But let us contrast the Jekyll Hearst of May, 1918, 
with the Hyde Hearst of May, 1917. 

The Hamburger Nachrichten joyfully reprinted from 
Hearst's New York American of May 3, 1917, these 
editorial excerpts: 

"Well, the facts are these: . . . unless America can 
perform the twin miracles of rescuing England from 
the submarine and of putting enough troops in France 
to beat off the offensive which the Germans are now 
beginning to develop, . . . 

"We tell you plainly that in a military, naval and 
economic way the Germans have the Allies whipped, 
and that without our intervention there was not a doubt 
that Germany would have victoriously dictated peace be- 
fore this year was gone . . . 



234 THE NATION AT WAR 

"And we have been plunged into war, without prepa- 
ration, with the most powerful single nation in the world, 
equipped to the last shoelace with every possible neces- 
sity of warfare, filling the seas with her submarine navy, 
covering half a continent with her veteran armies, and 
everywhere winning her way with blood and iron against 
her foes!" 

Yet the amiable Secretary of War says that nobody 
representing the government ought to be criticising any 
newspaper. 

The Cologne Volkszeitung reprinted from Hearst's 
New York American of May 17 and 21, 1917, these 
editorial comments : 

"Our part in this war, for months to come, is to 
pay the bill — to finance and feed hungry and bankrupt 
England, hungry and bankrupt France, hungry and bank- 
rupt Italy. . . . 

"If the result of war is to be that we will be hope- 
lessly outclassed by England as a naval power and hope- 
lessly beaten by England at the start in competition for 
the world's trade, then it would seem to be prudent to 
keep enough of our own money to build our indus- 
tries. . . . 

"Our money, like our armies and our fleets, should 
be concentrated at its home bases and not dispersed 
abroad. 

"It is plain enough that the bond issue is not being 
eagerly taken, to say the least. The banks have gone 
in to the limit with commendable alacrity, but the people 
are not buying the bonds. The government will doubt- 
less eventually dispose of the $2,ooo,ooo,cxx) issue, but 
who can say as much of the next issue?" 

The Berlin Lokalanzeiger reprinted from Hearst's New 
York American of May 16, 191 7, these gems of editorial 
"loyalty": 

"The reports of our own officers say that the Allies 
will lose the war unless we send enough war materials,, 
men and ships to help them win. . . . 



THE AUTHOR'S RESIGNATION, ETC. 235 

"As long as the U-boat danger is not put out of the 
way, any question of shipping men across and also ma- 
terial is in the air. Things being such, would it not 
be better to end the war honorably? Shall we send 
troops to destroy Germany which, perhaps, may be nec- 
essary for the defence of our own country?" 

While all newspapers look alike to our Secretary of 
War, the Germans exercise discrimination. 

The New York Tribune's translation of a tender tribute 
to Hearst in the Cologne Volkszeitung follows : 

*Tn the daily press the numerous Hearst papers of 
New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, San Fran- 
cisco and other cities were auxiliaries for us of valued 
influence. . . . How far Hearst's International News 
Service got upon the nerves of the London atrocity manu- 
facturers is shown by the cable embargo which Lon- 
don finally placed upon the Hearst service, thereby cut- 
ting his European life-nerve. 

''More valuable, however, than the news were the 
editorials of the Hearst newspapers. They were un- 
excelled models of popular style and arresting composi- 
tion. . . . 

"Hearst last year took the sting out of one of the 
worst pests of the American press when he had his 
editor in chief of The Evening Journal — Arthur Bris- 
bane, with his salary of $75,000, the highest paid news- 
paper man of America and probably of the world — 
to buy The Washington Times and conduct it in a line 
with his other papers." 

That The Times has been conducted "in a line with 
his other papers" is sufficiently clear from Hearst's 
$75,ooo-man's issue of July 16, 1917, issued within two 
blocks of the White House, whence he is intimately ad- 
dressed by Mr. Tumulty as "My dear Brisbane." 

"Anarchy rules in Russia," writes The Washington 
Times; "somebody must do something. The natural 



236 THE NATION AT WAR 

somebody is Germany, right next door to Russia. . . . 
the civilisation of Western Europe may be very grate- 
ful to Germany if the war finds Germany with enough 
strength left to undertake the maintaining of order in 
Russia — developing the resources there and making a 
few billions of rubles in the process." 

How could Mr. Burleson write of the Hearst levia- 
than's development in Chicago as "able and unselfish 
efforts" in behalf of "justice and freedom and true 
democratic government"? And how is it that a Hearst 
agent could dare come into my office in the Council of 
National Defense building and boast that the President 
himself had intervened to have Hearst's cable privi- 
leges restored ? — which statement I do not yet permit my- 
self to believe. 

The Examiner sharpens the shaft aimed at me with 
the point that I prefer abandoning war work rather than 
freedom of speech. This would be interesting if true. 
Although I resigned from the Council, I am still giving 
all of my time to war work, in other branches of service, 
and shall do so for some time to come. In fact, I am 
still giving assistance to the Council of National Defense, 
albeit unofficially, so as to keep to my own conscience the 
oath I swore when entering the Council to support and 
defend the Government "against all enemies, foreign and 
domestic." 

The Brooklyn Eagle, on the morning when my open 
letter appeared (June 25), contained an editorial as 
follows : 

"A Charge That Should Be Answered: Dr. Scherer 
regards Mr. Hearst and his newspapers as dangerous to 
a country engaged in the prosecution of a great war," 
said The Eagle. "He expresses that opinion without 
qualification or reserve. He sustains his position with 
reference to Hearst policies as defined in the columns 
controlled by Mr. Hearst. He prefers to get out of 
the Council of National Defence to remaining an officer 
of it with a tongue tied by an order from the Secretary 



THE AUTHOR'S RESIGNATION, ETC. 237 

of War. . . . The imputation that Mr. Baker has as- 
sumed the role of a Hearst defender is serious. Mr. 
Baker is an able controversialist, and his reply to Dr. 
Scherer will be awaited with interest." ^ 

The following day Mr. Baker replied, in a statement 
triumphantly quoted by The Los Angeles Examiner, as 
follows : 

"Some one, I believe a representative of one of the 
Hearst papers, had told me that a representative of the 
Council of National Defence was making addresses and 
spending a lot of his time criticising in harsh terms the 
Hearst newspapers. I told Mr. Gifford that I thought 
nobody who was officially representing the government 
ought to be criticising any newspaper, I don't care 
whether it is Hearst's paper or anybody else's, and that 
while I hadn't the slightest desire to prevent any man 
expressing his individual opinion upon any newspaper, 
I didn't think that any man as a representative of the 
government ought to be criticising any newspaper." 

*The Brooklyn Eagle said further in this same editorial arti- 
cle: "Newspapers rightly object to any interference with their 
own freedom of statement on public questions. They do not, 
and should not, deny the right of individuals to an equal free- 
dom of statement when they themselves are affected by it. The 
issue raised by Dr. Scherer is really of more consequence than 
Hearst or his newspapers. It goes far beyond the question of 
Mr. Hearst's loyalty now, far beyond the question of what his 
purpose has been in attacking England, assailing Japan, or 
arguing against the despatch of American armies to fight the 
battles of civilization in Europe. Summed up, the issue is 
whether any representative of the Federal Government is justi- 
fied in gagging responsible subordinates who wish to speak their 
mind about newspapers which have freely spoken their mind 
without rebuke from the Government with whose policies they 
have disagreed. Dr. Scherer has charged gagging under cir- 
cumstances that call for an explanation by Secretary Baker. He 
has placed the War Department in the position of an apologist 
for or defender of a certain group of newspapers and their 
proprietor. No group of newspapers, no individual newspaper 
and no newspaper proprietor should expect or ask the Govern- 
ment of the United States to interpose its authority as a pro- 
tection against criticism, no matter what may be the official rela- 
tion between the Government and the critic." 



238 THE NATION AT WAR 

Mr. Burleson made an exception of the Hearst papers 
in his rulings debarring other publications, infinitely less 
mischievous, from the mails. Had he not made this 
exception, individuals would not be compelled to match 
freedom of speech against the license of Mr. Hearst's 
press. But Mr. Baker says that his rules have no excep- 
tions; all newspapers look alike to him; and thus the 
unexceptionable rules of the War Secretary uphold the 
exceptions of the Burleson rulings. 

James A. B. Scherer. 

New York, July 19, 1918. 



APPENDIX B 

A BRIEF ECONOMIC ARGUMENT AGAINST AN INCONCLU- 
SIVE PEACE 

Used by permission 
By Frank Bohn 

THIS is only superficially a war between two groups 
of nations. It is fundamentally a war between two social 
systems — between two methods of industrial reorgani- 
zation. The coming task of the democratic peoples is 
to apply their basic political and intellectual principle to 
industrialism. The task which the autocratic peoples 
have set themselves is to apply a benevolent and most 
efficient monarchism to the stupendous and intricate 
mechanics of modern life. The stake of the game is 
the world of our times and of an indefinite future. 

Place before yourself a map of Eurasia. Draw a line 
from the Baltic to the Adriatic, west of Holland and 
Germany and south of Switzerland. You will see pro- 
jecting in the sea west of this line five little fingers — 
Italy, Franco-Iberia, Britain, and the two Scandinavian 
peninsulas. East of that line are the mighty hands of 
middle Europe, the arms of Russia and the Bagdad line, 
and the massive body of Asia proper. Let Kaiserism 
organize indefinitely to the eastward and the fingers 
of Western Europe will be speedily drawn into the sys- 
tem. Let Kaiserism live in middle Europe and the in- 
evitable result will be a league with an imperialistic Japan 
for the permeation of Asia. Cut Kaiserism out of Eu- 
rope now and Japan will be well on the road toward 

239 



240 THE NATION AT WAR 

democracy within five years. The general tendency of 
our world society from London to Yokohama, and 
from Yokohama to New York, will be dependent for 
direction upon the result. For modern mechanical mili- 
tarism and democracy cannot live permanently together 
in the same world. 

During the coming twenty years the stupendous and 
almost untouched economic fields of Russia and the Near 
East, of Siberia, India, and China as well as of Africa 
and South America, are going to be permeated by indus- 
trialism. The sources of raw material are going to be 
opened up by the nations which have, first, the machines ; 
second, the technical experts; third, the banking capital. 
The greater economic forces will draw these elements 
from those who have and scatter them among those 
who have not just as the sun draws water from the 
sea and pours it upon the land. The question is, shall 
this process proceed democratically — in the interests of 
the peoples who live upon the soil which will be devel- 
oped and exploited, or will it take place autocratically 
in the interest of a selfish ruling class? 

Give Germany Russia to exploit and her monarchical, 
militaristic efficiency will do the job with infinitely greater 
si>eed and accuracy than the democratic nations can hope 
to do. For instance, a truly democratic Government 
in America will help to organize the Chinese only as the 
Chinese request credit, expert guidance, and economic 
and educational assistance. But the actual organiza- 
tion which a liberal America or Britain would accomplish 
in China in ten years the German militaristic regime 
would probably do in two or three years. Let Kaiserism 
live in Germany and an open door in China will be an 
open door through which the German drill master and 
military engineer will enter to kick the beginning of 
Chinese democracy out of the window. 

The most important single economic factor in Eurasia 
is to be the railway line from Constantinople to Canton, 
China, through Central Asia. Let Kaiserism build that 
line and India will be Germanized as soon as the Ger- 
man General Staff concludes that sufficient troops can 



AGAINST INCONCLUSIVE PEACE 241 

be moved to the Indian frontier. In the presence of 
these factors the Berlin-Bagdad avenue to empire be- 
comes an almost negligible bypath. 

Let German monarchical industrialism organize Eu- 
rasia and the eighty millions of Germans in Germany 
and Austria will become, en masse, a ruling class. This 
has been the place of Junkerdom for a full generation. 
They will be fed and protected, trained and led, as 
never before. Their dream of supremacy will have been 
100 per cent, realized. If they have endured the slavery 
of the last half century and the sufferings of the last 
four years for their dream of power, what will they not 
do and permit to be done with them when the goods 
are in their hands and in their pockets? The German 
laborer will see his son trained to be a captain of in- 
dustry. The young German shopkeeper will stay in the 
army as a Captain in the foreign service. Every black 
^an, every yellow man, every brown man in the world 
will say to us that we have failed and of our democracy 
that it was a foolish dream. What was the loot of im- 
perial power in ancient times compared to the German 
loot to be hauled in from farm and mine and factory 
today, when one single machine does the work of thou- 
sands of old-time hand tools? Today Germany is grain 
bing the water power of the Swiss Alps, and will, if we 
compromise the war, make it the greatest manufacturing 
centre of Europe within fifteen years. Tomorrow the 
Urals and Himalayas will drive the wheels of her infi- 
nite machinery. The future of that stupendous system, 
not the future of a hundred years, but the future of 
twenty years, staggers the imagination. 

There are those who, being ignorant of history and 
ignorant of economics, are blind to the fundamentals 
of this war. They would compromise liberty and de- 
mocracy because they conceive liberty and democracy 
as being among the raw products of nature's cosmic 
forces. What folly! Liberty and democracy are the 
ripe fruitage of clear mind and iron will, of lofty ideal 
and glorious purpose. Without these the economic fac- 
tors may prepare the soil all in vain. If our life forces, 



^42 THE NATION AT WAR 

now being weighed in the balance, are found wanting, 
liberty and democracy will perish from the earth. 

*'But the German is such a fool he can never suc- 
ceed," I hear it said on every hand. 

*'No," I answer, whenever I hear that remark, "you 
are wrong; you are the fool." — New York Times, Au- 
gust 3, 1918. 



APPENDIX C 



WHAT THE SIERRA MADRE CLUB THINKS OF THE "lOI 
ANGELES examiner" 

Sierra Madre Club 
Los Angeles 

statement 

On the 6th day of June, 191 8, pursuant to a resolu- 
tion of the Board of Directors of the Sierra Madre Club, 
delivery of the Hearst publications was ordered discon- 
tinued, and the Club's subscription cancelled. 

On June 12th, 1918, Mr. Fenner H. Webb, a member 
of the Qub and one of the Editors of the Los Angeles 
Examiner, published through its columns an open let- 
ter addressed to the Board of Directors, protesting 
against its action, and suggesting that the entire Board 
of Directors meet and rescind the action. 

On the 20th day of June, 1918, at a meeting of the 
Board of Directors of the Sierra Madre Club, at which 
ten of the twelve members of the Board were present 
(two being absent from the city), it was resolved by 
unanimous vote to mail the following letter in reply to 
his communication to the Board, and that a copy of the 
letter be mailed to each member of the Club: 

June 20, 1918. 
Mr. Fenner H. Webb, 
c/o Los Angeles Examiner, 
Los Angeles, Cal. 
Dear Sir: 

For the information of the members of the Sierra 
Madre Club and the guidance of its Board of Directors, 

243 



244 THE NATION AT WAR 

will you, as one of the Editors of the Los Angeles 
Examiner, answer through its columns the following 
question ? 

Does the sentiment expressed in the following quo- 
tations from editorials published in the Los Angeles Ex- 
aminer since Congress declared that a state of war 
existed between the United States and Germany reflect 
the present convictions of Mr. Hearst and the policy 
of his pubhcations, and do you think that an institu- 
tion lOO per cent American should, after this country 
declared war on Germany, publish through its edito- 
rial columns such sentiments? 

For the information of the members of the Sierra 
Madre Club and the guidance of its Board of Di- 
rectors, do you, as a member of the Club (not as Editor 
of the Examiner) y subscribe to the sentiments expressed 
in the quotations given below, and do you, as a member, 
think that the Sierra Madre Club should, with eighty 
of its members in the service, support with its money 
and patronage a publication holding and circulating such 
views? 

Each and every one of the following quotations was 
taken from editorials published in the Examiner AFTER 
this country entered the war against Germany as an 
ally of Italy, France, England and Japan : 

Los Angeles Examiner, April p, 1917: 
*'When this war is over and the peoples at last dis- 
"cover how they have been deceived and deluded and 
"inflamed to furious passion and deadly hatred and awful 
"slaughter by this huge conspiracy of organized lying 
"and concealment of real facts, a roar of universal 
"execration will go up, and the men who have given their 
"pens and talent to this sinister work, miscalled patriotic 
"propaganda, will be fortunate if outraged peoples do 
"not hang them as fast as they are caught," 

Los Angeles Examiner, April 11, igiiy: 

"We say again — and we have a right to speak, since 

"we alone predicted and warned the country of these 



WHAT SIERRA MADRE CLUB THINKS 245 

''conditions and urged preparation for them— we say that 
"every shipment of food and military supplies from this 
''time on is a BLOW AT OUR SAFETY and that if we 
"do not stop this fatal drain upon our resources, the 
"country will be face to face with hunger, and possibly 
"worse disaster. ... . t. • 

"Now our earnest suggestion to Congress is that it 
"imperatively refuse to permit the further drainage of 
"our food suppHes and our military supplies and our 
"money supplies to Europe. ... . i u 

"We insist that none of these things at this eleventh 
"hour, when the huge armies are already locked in the 
"final death grapple, can have any decisive effect one 
"way or the other upon Europe's conflict. . . . 

". . . We urge you (Congress) not to weaken our 
"country's preparedness, not to give away our money by 
"ship loads and to squander our men and our food re- 
"serves upon Europe. . . ." 

Los Angeles Examiner, April 13, 1917' 

"Particularly do we deplore this sentiment which has 
"been fostered against the submarine. . . 

"We are making a terrible mistake in this sentimental 
"objection to submarine warfare. ... 

"But as things stand in these circumstances of uncer- 
"tainty, in our utterly unprepared condition, there is 
"only one possible course that is sensible, and that is 
"to begin at once and to continue to work with all our 
"might and main to supply all our military needs and 
"to keep every dollar and every man and every weapon 
"and all our supplies and stores at home for the de- 
"fense of our own land, our own people, our own free- 
"dom, until that defense has been made absolutely 
"secure." 

Los Angeles Examiner, April 23, 1917: 

"Citizens, let us build our own navy and build it strong 
"enough to protect us not only against Germany, but 
"against England and Japan. ... 

"Citizens, let us prepare for every eventuality. Let us 



^46 THE NATION AT WAR 

"prepare for the future as well as the present, and when 
^'preparing for the future, let us remember the past." 

Los Angeles Examiner, April 26, 19 ly: 
"We say plainly to Washington that the whole people 
"are ready to back up solidly, with all possible enthu- 
"siasm and with all their resources to the last dollar 
"and to the last man, AN AMERICAN WAR FOR THE 
"RIGHTS AND BENEFITS OF AMERICA, but the 
"majority, and the vast majority too, are not disposed, 
"to put it very mildly, to be enthusiastic over fighting a 
"war for England, to save England from defeat, to re- 
"establish her insolent tyranny over the seas that should 
"be free, to put our navy at her disposal, to strip our 
"own people of food for her, to neglect our own defense 
"against terrible dangers that may come, in order that 
"England may be safeguarded with American men, 
"American money, American resources and everything 
"that is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO OUR 
"OWN DEFENSE AND SAFETY." 

Los Angeles Examiner, June 25, igiy: 
"But it is only right that England and France shall fight 

"their great battles for themselves, so long as they have 

"men enough to do it. . . . 

". . . But until that time (until all Englishmen every- 

"where have been drafted), America is not called in honor 

"nor in duty to send her beardless boys across the sea 

"to be sacrificed for England's cause." 

Los Angeles Examiner, July 2, igiy: 

"These papers have said consistently, and will con- 

"tinue to maintain that the American soldiers who go 

"to France, should go as volunteers, and not as con- 

"scripted men sent by the will of the Government." 

Los Angeles Examiner, Sept. 24, 191^: 

"The delicate question now is whether the President 

"can bring England around to an acceptance of a rea- 

**sonable peace upon American terms, or whether that 



WHAT SIERRA MADRE CLUB THINKS Ml 

"Government will stubbornly insist upon a peace upon 
"England's terms." 

Los Angeles Examiner, March 4, ipi8: 

"Japanese entry into Siberia is not to aid the Allies, 
"but to entrench Japan. . . . 

"All the world is threatened by the advancing empire 
"of Japan, but especially and particularly is America 
"threatened. . . . 

"We are peculiarly threatened because we are the 
"nearest thing to Japan commercially and territorially, 
"and the farthest thing from Japan politically, economi- 
"cally, industrially and socially. . . . 

"Is it intelligence to allow our yellow opponent to 
"strengthen himself at the expense of our white allies? — 
"for all the white races are our natural and inevitable 
"allies in the world racial conflict. . . . 

"Is it statesmanship to permit the army to be increased 
"in men, in morale, in resources, in wealth and equip- 
"ment — the army which is soon to be hurled against our 
"sons, our standards, our civilization, our independence, 
"our existence? . . . 

"May these blind fools of white nations make peace 
"among themselves and make preparations against the 
"enemy for the fundamental conflict which is at hand, 
"and may our great President detect and prevent the 
"disastrous mistake which the mad European nations 
"are making in allowing Japan to make of China and 
"Siberia and all Western Asia a mighty military power 
"to essay the domination of the world." 

Los Angeles Examiner, March 8, igi8: 
"The only attitude of importance is the attitude of 
"the United States. Without the United States, Great 
"Britain and her Allies, including her special ally Japan, 
"would be seeking peace, not conquest, would be en- 
"deavoring to retain what territory they have, not trying 
"to secure what belongs to others. . . . 

"If Great Britain cannot restrain her special ally from 
"acts of aggression inimical to our interest, we can re- 



M8 THE NATION AT WAR 

''move our ships and troops from Europe and transfer 
*'them to Asia. . . . 

"If Japan does not want to see all the white races of 
"Europe united under the most efficient military nation 
"of the white races and united against the yellow races, 
"it will not throw Russia, and eventually the rest of 
"Europe, into the hands of Germany." 

Los Angeles Examiner, March 28, ipi8: 
"Why are we to believe that there is any sincerity or 
"anything but the utmost brutal Oriental selfishness in 
''Japan's present attitude ? If Japan does go into Siberia 
"she is going in to take Siberia, and when she has taken 
"Siberia who is going to drive her from Siberia? Not 
"the allies, for they are too much occupied with their 
"war. Not the United States, because we are putting 
"all our eggs in the allies' basket. Not Russia, because 
"if she has been unable TO KEEP JAPAN OUT OF 
"SIBERIA she certainly will not be able to DRIVE 
"JAPAN OUT OF SIBERIA, once Japan has occupied 
"that territory. There is only one combination possible 
"which might drive Japan out of Siberia, and that is Rus- 
"sia in active and aggressive alliance with the Teutonic 
"empires.^' 

In April, 19 1 7, the only possible eflFective aid this coun- 
try could render to our allies, England and France, in 
the war against the common enemy, Germany, was in 
the continued shipment of food, military supplies and 
money, and yet the Examiner, in an editorial published 
in its issue of April 11, 1917, suggested to Congress, at 
the very time the allied armies were, to quote the edito- 
rial in question, "locked in the final death grapple," to 
"imperatively refuse to permit the further drainage of 
"our food supplies and our military supplies and our 
"money supplies to Europe." And two days later, in 
another editorial, advised that the only sensible course 
for this Government to pursue was "to keep every dollar 
and every man and every weapon and all our supplies 
and stores at home. . . ." 



WHAT SIERRA MADRE CLUB THINKS 249 

Can the human mind conceive an action more dastardly, 
more cowardly, more treacherous, and more in aid of 
the enemy, than that suggested by the Examiner to 
Congress as the only sensible course for this Govern- 
ment to pursue? 

Von Tirpitz never dreamed of accomplishing as much 
with his submarines, nor Von Hindenburg with his 
armies, as the Examiner's suggested action, if adopted, 
would have accomplished for Germany. 

As you said in your open letter to this Board, ''Neither 
"Mr. Hearst nor his newspapers need any defense from 
"me. His life and his newspapers speak for themselves." 

No further comment is necessary. 
Yours truly, 

(Signed) M. J. Chenard, 

Secretary. 

Per order of the Board. 



APPENDIX D 

A LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 

Used by permission 

"May 22, 1918. 
"My Dear Senator Poindexter: 

"The following article from me appeared in The Kan- 
sas City Star on May 7, 1918 : 

" 'Sedition, a Free Press and Personal Rule. 

" 'The legislation now being enacted by Congress 
should deal drastically with sedition. It should also guar- 
antee the right of the press and people to speak the 
truth freely of all their public servants, including the 
President, and to criticise them in the severest terms of 
truth whenever they come short in their public duty. 
Finally, Congress should grant the Executive the amplest 
powers to act as an Executive and should hold him 
to stern accountability for failure so to act ; but it should 
itself do the actual lawmaking and should clearly define 
the lines and limits of action and should retain and use 
the fullest powers of investigation into and supervision 
over such action. 

" 'Sedition is a form of treason. It is an offence 
against the country, not against the President. At this 
time to oppose the draft or sending our armies to Europe, 
to uphold Germany, to attack our Allies, to oppose rais- 
ing the money necessary to carry on the war, are at 
least forms of moral sedition, while to act as a German 
spy or to encourage German spies, to use money or in- 
trigue in the corrupt service of Germany, to tamper with 
our war manufactures and to encourage our soldiers to 
desert or to fail in their duty, and all similar actions, 

250 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 251 

are forms of undoubtedly illegal sedition. For some of 
these offences death should be summarily inflicted. For 
all the punishment should be severe. 

" 'The Administration has been gravely remiss in deal- 
ing with such acts. 

*' 'Free speech, exercised both individually and through 
a free press, is a necessity in any country where the 
people are themselves free. Our government is the serv- 
ant of the people, whereas in Germany it is the master 
of the people. This is because the American people are 
free and the German people are not free. The President 
is merely the most important among a large number of 
public servants. He should be supported or opposed 
exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good 
conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency, 
in rendering loyal, able and disinterested service to the 
nation as a whole. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary 
that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about 
his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary 
to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when 
he does right. Any other attitude in an American citi- 
zen is both base and servile. To announce that there 
must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to 
stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only un- 
patriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the 
American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken 
about him or any one else. But it is even more impor- 
tant to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him 
than about any one else. 

I " 'During the last year the Administration has shown 
itself anxious to punish the newspapers which uphold the 
war, but which have told the truth about the Adminis- 
tration's failure to conduct the war efficiently; whereas 
it has failed to proceed against various powerful news- 
papers which opposed the war or attacked our allies 
or directly or indirectly aided Germany against this coun- 
try, as these papers upheld the Administration and de- 
fended its inefficiency. Therefore, no additional power 
should be given the Administration to deal with papers 
for criticising the Administration. And, moreover, Con- 



252 THE NATION AT WAR 

gress should closely scrutinize the way the Postmaster 
General and the Attorney General have already exer- 
cised discrimination between the papers they prosecuted 
and the papers they failed to prosecute. 

" 'Congress should give the President full power for 
efficient executive action. It should not abrogate its own 
power. It should define how he is to reorganize the 
Administration. It should say how large an army we 
are to have, and not leave the decision to the amiable 
Secretary of War who has for two years shown such 
inefficiency. It should declare for an army of five mil- 
lion men, and inform the Secretary that it would give 
him more the minute he asks for more.' 

"Thereupon Postmaster General Burleson issued the 
following statement : 

" 'Office of Information, 
** 'Postoffice Department, 

" 'May 8, 1918. 

" 'Postmaster General Burleson to-day made the fol- 
lowing statement with reference to the editorial signed 
by Colonel Roosevelt, which appeared in this morning's 
paper : 

" 'Ex-President Roosevelt, in the newspapers this 
morning, made the following statement: 

" ' "During the last year the Administration has shown 
itself anxious to punish the newspapers which upheld 
the war, but which told the truth about the Administra- 
tion's failure to conduct the war efficiently; whereas it 
has failed to proceed against various powerful newspa- 
pers which opposed the war or attacked our allies or 
directly or indirectly aided Germany against this coun- 
try, as those papers upheld the Administration and de- 
fended the inefficiency." 

" 'This statement, taken in connection with other pub- 
lished statements of Mr. Roosevelt, is manifestly aimed 
at the administration of the postal service. It is either 
true or false. If true, I am utterly unworthy of trust 
and should be scourged from office in disgrace. If false, 
right-thinking men and women will form their own 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 253 

opinion of the man who uttered it. Its truth or falsity- 
is easily demonstrable. I invite Mr. Roosevelt to name 
the papers or magazines vi^hich have "upheld the w^ar, 
but which told the truth about the Administration's fail- 
ure to conduct the war efficiently" which have been "pun- 
ished" by the Postoffice Department. I invite Mr. Roose- 
velt to name the newspapers or magazines, powerful or 
otherwise, "which have opposed the w^r and attacked 
our allies or directly or indirectly aided Germany against 
this country" in such manner as to violate the law which 
have not been proceeded against by this department. 

" 'Failure on the part of Mr. Roosevelt to respond is 
to admit his inability to do so.' 

"As this was issued officially by the Postmaster Gen- 
eral, I desire that a permanent record shall be made of my 
answer and of the facts that led up to my statement to 
which the Postmaster General took exception, and which 
caused him to issue his challenge to me to prove my 
statement. I therefore wish to put these facts before 
you in full. 

"I insert as appendixes to this letter the editorial in 
The Metropolitan Magazine, in the issue which the New 
York postoffice attempted to suppress, this editorial be- 
ing entitled Tut the Blame Where It Belongs' and my 
article in The Metropolitan on 'Lincoln and Free speech,' 
together with the Metropolitan statement as to its war 
record (page 6, May Metropolitan). 

"I deal with Mr. Burleson and his actions purely be- 
cause he is the representative of President Wilson, ex- 
actly as is Secretary Baker, exactly as is Mr. Creel. 
President Wilson is responsible for everything that Post- 
master General Burleson and Secretary Baker and Mr. 
Creel do, or leave undone. Nothing that any one of these 
gentlemen says, nothing that any one of them does, and 
nothing that any one of them leaves undone is of the 
slightest importance, except because he is President Wil- 
son's representative, appointed by President Wilson to a 
position of high governmental importance in a great crisis 
and serving as the medium through which President 
Wilson carries out his policies affecting this country. 



254 THE NATION AT WAR 

This is, of course, equally true of all of President Wil- 
son's other appointees. 

"I have scant patience with the timidity or the folly 
which dares not hold accountable the source of power, 
and only ventures to express displeasure with the in- 
strument through which the power is exercised. Messrs. 
Burleson, Baker, Creel and their associates possess no 
importance whatever, except that accruing to them be- 
cause it is through them that the President speaks and 
acts or refuses or fails to act. As the above article 
shows, I was not speaking of Mr. Burleson in particular, 
but of the Administration, of which he is a part; of 
the President, whose servant he is. 

"The reason for my comment in The Kansas City 
Star and for my previous article in The Metropolitan 
Magazine is that since the war began the Administra- 
tion has used the very great war powers of the govern- 
ment over the public press to stifle honest criticism 
of governmental inefficiency or misconduct, while con- 
doning (which necessarily means encouraging) pro- 
Germans, anti-Ally and therefore anti-American agita- 
tion in certain powerful papers which defended this in- 
efficiency and misconduct; and it has sought from Con- 
gress a great addition to the already existing power it 
has thus misused. 

"I believe that the First Article of the Constitution 
guarantees the right of the people to criticise truthfully 
the conduct of their public servants, and that this right 
cannot be taken away by any law. But the average man 
is naturally and properly afraid to challenge a law backed 
by the whole power of the United States government, 
even although it may be his belief that ultimately the 
law will be held unconstitutional. 

"Our governmental officers, from the President down, 
are of right the servants of the people, not the rulers of 
the people. This is the fundamental difference bet\yeen 
an autocracy and a democracy. The Hohenzollems are 
the rulers of Germany, and the Germans are the subjects 
of the Hohenzollems, not their fellow citizens. On the 
contrary, our Presidents are not the rulers of the Ameri- 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 255 

can people, but the servants of the American people, and 
the rest of the people are their fellow citizens. 

"Our duty is to stand by the country. It is our duty 
to stand by the President — as by every other official-— 
just so long as he stands by the country. It is no less 
our duty to oppose him whenever, and to the extent that, 
he does not stand by the country. If we fail to oppose 
him under such conditions we are guilty of moral treason 
to the country. The President and our other public offi- 
cials are subject to the laws just like the rest of us. It 
is an infamy untruthfully to assail our public servants — 
or any one else. But it is our duty to tell the truth about 
our public servants, whether the truth be pleasant or un- 
pleasant. The higher the public servant and the more 
important his task, the more careful we should be to 
speak only the truth about him ; and the more necessary 
it is that we should tell the full truth about him. 

^'During the past year the action of the Administration, 
taken largely through the Postoffice Department has been 
such as to render it a matter of some danger for any man, 
and especially any newspaper, to speak the truth, if that 
truth be unpleasant to the governmental authorities at 
Washington. The effect of this attitude has been very 
marked politically. Such coercive power tends to make 
upright men, even although they are strong men, cautious 
about telling truths which ought to be told. It forces 
weak men to praise the Administration whether it does 
well or ill. It invites unscrupulous men who desire to 
serve Germany to gain license to do so and to secure ad- 
vantages by praising the Administration, especially when 
it has acted wrongfully or inefficiently and by supporting 
it politically. There are cases where all competent and" 
honest observers are morally certain, that political sup- 
port has been given, and is now being given, to the Ad- 
ministration by various newspapers, especially German- 
American and semi-socialistic newspapers, because of the 
club thus held over them by the Administration. 

"From the very nature of the case there can rarely 
be positive proof in such cases. But as regards the most 
striking cases of favouritism, those concerning the Kearst 



256 THE NATION AT WAR 

papers, as compared with the suppression of Tom Wat- 
son's paper, and the attack (for nominally wholly dif- 
ferent reasons) on The Metropolitan, I herein give the 
facts which prove exactly what I have alleged. 

"The Postmaster General has raised the issue: I meet 
it squarely, and he shall not evade it. The Administration 
has successfully endeavoured to prevent expression of 
opinion hostile to it and to put a premium upon support- 
ing the President personally and politically without re- 
gard to whether his actions are detrimental or beneficial 
to the country. 

"The Administration, through the Publicity Bureau, 
under the lead of Mr. Creel, is conducting a gigantic 
news propaganda with the public money. Mr. Creel's 
activities are exercised nominally on behalf of the coun- 
try, but in reality primarily on behalf of the Administra- 
tion. Mr. Creel announces and publishes himself as the 
special representative of the President, and is permitted 
by the President so to announce and publish himself. He 
assails the publications that truthfully expose the short- 
comings of the Administration, and, without regard to 
the facts, he, personally and through his bureau, actively 
upholds the Administration as regards those matters, such 
as the aircraft programme, in which there have been 
grave governmental shortcomings. This is partisan po- 
litical propaganda of the very worst type, carried on with 
public moneys, under the guise of public work. The 
editor of The Metropolitan wrote Mr. Creel, on March 7: 

" *Is it right that you should use the time and money 
of your bureau, which is supported by the American tax- 
payers, to defend members of the Administration from 
criticism in the public press? Are you not in fact the 
personal press agent of the President and members of 
the Administration?' 

"What the editor of The Metropolitan thus stated in the 
form of a query should be stated affirmatively as an un- 
questioned fact. 

"I have said so much by way of making the general 
situation clear. Now, as to Pbstmaster General Burle- 
son's challenge. This can be divided into two parts: 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 257 

First, Mr. Burleson denies that the Administration has 
ever discriminated improperly against any publication, 
and, second, he denies that it has ever failed to proceed 
against any publication which ought to have been pro- 
ceeded against. 

"First — The Metropolitan Magazine, Collier's Weekly 
and The New York Tribune have consistently upheld the 
war. They eagerly demanded that we should go to war ; 
they supported the President in going to war; they have 
cordially upheld every measure for prosecuting the war. 
But they have also told not all of the truth, but some 
small portion of the truth, which it was absolutely neces- 
sary to tell, about the Administration's failure to conduct 
the war efficiently. They have only told even this small 
portion of the truth when it was imperative so to do in 
order to speed up the war and to prevent perseverance in 
inefficiency. All three publications have been attacked 
by Mr. Creel officially, speaking as President Wilson's 
representative and 'as giving a message from the United 
States government to the American people.' (I quote 
from The Independent.) 

"The Postoffice Department, through the New York 
postmaster, on March 2 last notified the publishers of 
The Metropolitan Magazine that its March issue was non- 
mailable under the espionage act. This action was widely 
published throughout the country. It was calculated to 
do great damage to The Metropolitan. It was precisely 
the kind of action which, as I know by having been so 
assured again and again by various editors, was the rea- 
son why these editors have been afraid to tell the truth 
or even a small part of the truth about our governmental 
inefficiency or misdeeds. 

"The article on which the action was nominally based 
was by a man who had written articles of exactly the 
same kind in a publication. The New Republic, which, 
however, is a political supporter of Mr. Wilson, and has 
not been interfered with. The Metropolitan is not a po- 
litical supporter of Mr. Wilson, and was interfered with, 
yet The Metropolitan has upheld the war more zealously 
Jhan The New^ Republic, 



258 THE NATION AT WAR 

''The Metropolitan immediately asked the postmaster of 
New York for the grounds of his action, but got no 
answer. On March 9 it telegraphed the Postmaster Gen- 
eral, asking whether the action was taken by the order 
of the Postmaster General and if not what steps the 
Postmaster General would take to repair the damage 
done to the Metropolitan Magazine. 

"On March 11 the Postmaster General replied to the 
Metropolitan, stating that accusations had been made 
that an article in the Metropolitan was a traitorous ef- 
fusion, but that he did not know whether the complaints 
were justified, and that no order had been issued about 
it by the department. He did not answer the Metropolir- 
tan's question as to what steps would be taken to repair 
the damage done it by the conduct of the New York 
postmaster. 

"On the same day, the New York postmaster wrote 
the Metropolitan reversing his action of March 2, but 
making no apology, and making no excuse. 

"On March 12, the editor of the Metropolitan wrote 
to Mr. Burleson saying, among other things, 'You must 
remember that there are a great number of pacifists and 
pro-Germans in this country who would willingly put the 
Metropolitan Magazine out of business because it is the 
most strongly pro-Ally and anti-German publication in 
the country,' calling attention to the fact that a state- 
ment attributed to the Solicior General of the department 
was obviously not in accord with the facts, and that the 
Metropolitan could not accept newspaper statements with- 
out confirmation from the Postmaster General, and ask- 
ing for a written statement from the Postmaster General 
in the matter. He has received no such statement, nor 
has any attempt been made by the Postofiice Department 
to remedy the wrong it did by the postmaster at New 
York. 

"At the same time one of the advertisers in The Met- 
ropolitan, Mr. E. M. Mansur, of Floral Park, N. Y., re- 
ceived a letter from a man in Chicago suggesting that he 
withdraw his advertisement because of the editorial in 
The Metropolitan Magazine. Mr. Mansur declined to 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT ft59 

withdraw it. On April 3 he notified The Metropolitan 
that a special agent of the United States Department of 
Justice, named James A. Corcoran, with shield No. 436, 
giving his address as Box 241, Park Row, New York 
City, called on him, with copies of the letters of this 
Chicago man to him and of the replies, and asked if 
Mr. Mansur had stopped advertising, and wanted to know 
if he was going on advertising next year, and then if he 
were an American citizen. The last query, taken in con- 
nection with the first two, contained, of course, an im- 
plication that was in effect a threat. 

"This shows that the Department of Justice had knowl- 
edge of the attempt to boycott The Metropolitan and lent 
its official power to further it, unless the man in ques- 
tion had stolen the special agent's shield which he pos- 
sessed and forged his name and address. 

"The above facts Mr. Burleson has not denied and 
cannot truthfully deny, and they absolutely demonstrate 
the exactness of my statement, so far as the Administra- 
tion's effort to punish the publications which upheld the 
war but have told the truth about the Administration's 
failure to conduct the war efficiently. 

"Now for the second part of my statement : The prime 
example of failure by the Administration to proceed 
against newspapers which oppose the war or attack our 
allies and therefore directly or indirectly aid Germany 
is afforded by the failure of the Administration to deal 
with Mr. Hearst's papers as it has dealt with certain 
other papers. Mr. Hearst is a very wealthy man, reputed 
to be much more than a millionaire, owning a dozen 
newspapers, more or less, and a half dozen magazines, 
in different parts of the country. 

"At the very beginning of the war the government 
proceeded successfully against Tom Watson's publication 
in Georgia. I entirely disagreed with Tom Watson's 
general political philosophy ; I was utterly opposed to his 
contention that drafted men should not be sent overseas 
to fight; I regarded him as a narrow, although an up- 
right and sincere, man. 

"But he had done nothing that was anything like as 



260 THE NATION AT WAR 

dangerous to this country and our allies and as helpful 
to Germany as Mr. Hearst was at that very time doing. 

"The circulation of Mr. Watson's paper was very 
small, compared to Mr. Hearst's papers ; his wealth and 
influence were infinitesimal, compared to Mr. Hearst's 
wealth and influence, and he had denounced Germany 
and even advocated war against Germany, whereas Mr. 
Hearst had in numerous editorials opposed our going to 
war, attacked Germany's foes and defended Germany. 

*'Yet the Administration crushed Tom Watson, while 
it first tolerated and then encouraged wealthy, powerful, 
pro-German and anti-war Mr. Hearst. 

"Tom Watson's paper was not the only small paper 
the Postmaster General attacked and hampered for doing 
far less than Mr. Hearst's papers had done. The New 
York News is edited by George W. Harris, a coloured 
man, for the coloured race. Under date of May 2, last, 
Mr. Harris, the editor, received a notice from the post- 
master of New York that the issue of that date had been 
'withheld from despatch through the mails, pending ad- 
vice from the solicitor for the Postoflice Department as 
to whether this issue is unmailable.' One of the editors 
of the paper informs me that Mr. Harris called at the 
Postoflice in New York to ascertain the reason of this 
order, but was not given any reason. 

"The only explanation the editors could think of was 
that the paper had contained a protest against an alleged 
order of a colonel in the army 'directing coloured oflicers 
not to enforce upon white inferiors a military salute.* 
Certainly nothing in this humble paper warranted the 
Administration, through the Postoflice Department, in 
attacking it while at the same time not venturing to in- 
terfere with the wealthy Hearst papers. 

"Mr. Burleson, however, while he will pardon certain 
pro-Administration papers, even although they are anti- 
war, will nevertheless occasionally attack not only anti- 
war but pro-war, and even pro-Administration radical 
papers, if he objects to their radicalism. Two entirely 
responsible persons have called my attention to the sup- 
pression of one issue of a radical magazine called The 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 261 

Public. This has been an entirely pro-war magazine. 
In its issue of March 30th it urged editorially 'heavier 
taxation of unearned incomes and of excess profits/ and 
the raising of more money by direct taxation in prefer- 
ence to bond issues. 

^'Apparently, as far as the editors can make out, it 
was because of this article this issue was suppressed. A 
former editor of the paper writes me that it is possible 
that Mr. Burleson objected to the paper because of an 
account of an interview with him on October 12th last 
in which he was quoted as stating his lack of sympathy 
with the proposition that a man ought to get his money 
from the ownership of land which was tilled by tenants 
on the ground that he could not be expected to favour 
a public policy where his interest lay on the other side 
of the proposition. *As a landowner you can't expect me 
to believe that/ he is reported as saying. 

''It does not appear, however, that any steps were 
taken because of this article. The question, therefore, 
is as to the right of The Public to print the editorial in 
the issue of March 30. The question as to our belief 
or our disbelief in the soundness of this editorial has 
nothing whatever to do with the case. There are plenty 
of the conservative doctrine, with which I emphatically 
disagree, and plenty of radical doctrine, with which I 
disagree, and if it should happen that on either side of 
the case I found myself in agreement with Mr. Burleson 
I should, nevertheless, adhere to my beliefs. But unless 
these doctrines were seditious or represented a kind of 
immorality and incitement to violence or other unlawful 
conduct which would properly bring them under the law, 
I would fight as stoutly for the right of the editor to 
publish them as I would fight for my own right to pub- 
lish articles against them. 

"Such action as that of Mr. Burleson does not help 
the war ; on the contrary, it tends to keep people so angry 
with the agents of the war that they become and remain 
hostile to the war itself. 

"There could be no more striking example of dis- 
crimination than that furnished by the contrast between 



S62 THE NATION AT WAR 

the treatment of a paper like Mr. Watson's and papers 
like those of Mr. Hfearst. There was severity of treat- 
ment to the helpless, while the strong were given com- 
plete immunity. 

"There is no need to rely upon my statement that The 
Metropolitan has been a loyal, pro-war, pro-American 
publication. In a letter published by Mr. Creel since Mr. 
Burleson's statement was published, he states: 

" 'We reply to The Metropolitan for the very reason 
that we do not reply to anti-war or anti-American papers. 
They are known to be what they are, but the reputation 
of The Metropolitan for loyalty gives weight to its mis- 
statements.' 

"This is, as shown by the use of the word 'we,* a 
complete and full acknowledgment on the part of Mr. 
Creel that my statements with regard to the Administra- 
tion in this matter are correct. It is a complete and full 
acknowledgment that the Administration acts against a 
publication whose loyalty is unquestioned, but which at- 
tacks the kind of governmental inefficiency which tells 
in favour of Germany, although at the same time the 
Administration does not act against the 'anti-war or anti- 
American papers' — so long, I may add incidentally, as 
these papers champion the Administration and apologise 
for the inefficiency of its actions. 

'*Since the Postmaster General's challenge to me was 
made public, private citizens have taken against the 
Hearst papers the action which the Administration has 
refused to take. The New York American in publishing 
President Wilson's Memorial Day proclamation omitted 
that part of the proclamation which contained the prayer 
for victory, although it printed the part containing the 
prayer for peace — a proceeding entirely in consonance 
with Mr. Hearst's advocacy of a 'peace without victory.' 

"In Poughkeepsie, according to a special despatch to 
The New York Herald of May 13, a party of Grand 
Army veterans protested against such action by procuring 
every available copy of The American and burning them 
in the Courthouse Square, the veterans explaining, 
through Major Louis C. Dietz, organiser of the Local 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 263 

Loyal Service League, that they did this because they re- 
garded the action of The New York American as an at- 
tempt *to fool the people of this country by publishing 
articles that are perfectly agreeable to the Kaiser's gov- 
ernment and to traitors and pro-Germans that are in this 
country.' 

"At the same time, according to the statements in The 
New York Times and New York World, the Mayor and 
Common Council of Mount Vernon, N. Y., barred the 
Hearst papers for the period of the war from Mount 
Vernon, the mover of the ordinance reading various ex- 
tracts from Mr. Hearst's papers, which, he said, moved 
him to take the action he did, while the Mayor announced 
that he signed the bill because he wished to put a curb 
on the Kaiser or any of his agents, and that Mount Ver- 
non will not stand for anything or any one not wholly 
American at this time.' 

"The Mayor of Summit, N. J., is reported to have 
succeeded in getting the newsdealers to refuse to handle 
the Hearst publications. 

"I have before me at the moment copies of The Nev§ 
York American editorials of May ii, May 20, June i, 
1915, and an editorial of June 6, 1915, signed by Mr. 
Hearst himself, dealing with the Lusitania question and 
stating that Germany's action was right about the Lusi- 
tania, that 'the Lusitania incident is, of course, no cause 
for a declaration of war' and that we had no just cause 
for complaint in the matter — saying that we *had no 
right to make this demand . . . that Germany suspend 
her submarine warfare against the commerce of the Al- 
lies,' that we had *no right to question Germany's use of 
submarines in her warfare upon British commerce' and 
that the Lusitania was an English vessel and properly 
■subject to destruction,' and that its destruction by the 
German submarine was in accordance with the authorised 
and accepted rules of warfare and that Germany's meth- 
ods of submarine warfare were none of our business !' 

"The Hearst papers continued to try to make our peo- 
ple range themselves against England, and therefore in 
favour of Germany, and to appeal to the people of the 



264 THE NATION AT WAR 

United States to put the safety of their dollars above 
the safety of their women and children. 

"In the^ issue of The New York American of August 
25, 191 5, is an editorial headed 'Must the United States 
Be a Catspaw for England against Germany?' There is 
not a word in this editorial about the German murder 
of our women and children on the high seas, not a word 
protesting against Germany's taking the lives of our citi- 
zens, but a scream against England because she had made 
cotton contraband of war! No American can read this 
editorial in the Hearst papers of that date without hang- 
ing his head in shame that such papers should at this 
time be backed by the American Administration. 

"Let the Administration recall that Mr. Hearst was 
writing these editorials week after week, month after 
month during the time succeeding the sinking of the 
Lusitania. 

"On December 5 last Secretary Baker, the official rep- 
resentative of the President in all matters relating to 
the war, said, as reported in the public press : 

" 'From the moment the Lusitania was sent to a watery 
grave by the hands of the assassin the United States had 
only two choices. The United States could have crawled 
on its knees to the Hohenzollerns, crying out that their 
frightfulness and their military efficiency were too great 
and that we submit and become their vassal, or, as an 
alternative, we could fight. We chose to fight.' 

"This is the description by President Wilson's Secre- 
tary of War of the course (that we become the vassal 
of Germany) which Mr. Hlearst, through his papers, did 
his utmost to get the American people to adopt. 

"After we went into the war, on April 11, 1917, 'M'r. 
Hearst wrote: 'Stripping our country of men, money 
and food is a dangerous policy. Our earnest suggestion 
to the Congress is that it imperatively refuse to permit 
the further draining of our food supplies and our military 
supplies to Europe.' This was equivalent to a demand 
that after going to war we should turn around and help 
Germany more than if we had continued to remain 
neutral. 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 265 

"On April 24, 1917, The New York American said: 
'The painful truth is that we are being practically used 
as a mere reinforcement of England's warfare and Eng- 
land's future aggrandisement.' This was an effort against 
our ally and an effort to pander to anti-English prejudice 
in the interest of our foes, and nothing else. 

"On May 17 it advocated our spending all our money 
on preparing our army and navy here at home *and so 
compelling Germany if she wants to fight to come to us/ 
which was, of course, equivalent to arguing that we would 
render no aid to defeat Germany until she had defeated 
our allies and was preparing to attack us single-handed. 

"On May 25 the same paper said of the efforts to 
float the Liberty Loan: 'If you want our food and 
wealth sent abroad to help suffering England, buy a 
Liberty bond, furnish the sinews of war.' In view of 
Hearst's continued effort to excite hatred between the 
United States and England, the implication of this sen- 
tence cannot be mistaken. In the very next sentence he 
subtly attempts to appeal to all men with a feeling of 
affection for Germany by intimating that whoever pur- 
chased a Liberty bond desired to see Germany not merely 
defeated but 'dismembered.' 

"On July 2y The New York American spoke of our 
soldiers being sent over 'to be offered up in bloody sacri- 
fice to the ambition of contending nations on foreign 
battlefields.' On November 22, it spoke of our 'inter- 
fering in Europe's quarrels.' 

"It is absolutely impossible to reconcile the govern- 
ment's action in proceeding against Tom Watson's paper 
with its failure to proceed against Mr. Hearst's papers 
on any theory that justice was to be done alike to the 
strong and to the weak. 

"The above quotations from Mr. Hearst's papers, and 
many others like them, may be found in recent issues of 
The New York Tribune. The government had full no- 
tice about Hearst because the Allies had barred him from 
the cable service, and only through the good offices of 
this government have these privileges just now been re- 
stored to Mr. Hearst. 



\ 



^66 THE NATION AT WAR 

"Nor is this all. A mass meeting of thousands of citi- 
zens of New York was held in Carnegie Hall on No- 
vember 2, 1917, under the auspices of the American 
Defence Society to protest against the spirit of disloyalty 
shown by certain persons, especially Mr. Hearst. James 
M. Beck delivered an address dealing for the most part 
with Mr. Hearst. This portion of the address I have 
also included in the appendices. The New York Times, 
among other papers, printed this address almost in full. 

"The government, therefore, had full warning and full 
knowledge of all of Mr. Hearst's activities. Mr. Hearst's 
papers have defended our war inefficiencies, have apolo- 
gised for the failures in the war programme, and have 
even denied such breakdowns as that in the aircraft pro- 
gramme. 

"It is true that since we entered the war Mr. Hearst 
has at various times issued editorials professing great 
patriotic zeal, but it was at the very time when in other 
editorials he was attacking the allies of America, Eng- 
land and Japan, in the most offensive way, and at the 
very time when he was upholding the Russian Bolshe- 
vists, who had made Russia a traitor to the free nations 
of the world and a subservient ally of the German autoc- 
racy. Such action cannot fail to give aid and comfort 
to Germany. 

"By turning to The New York Tribune of May 8, 1918, 
Postmaster General Burleson will find an ardent tribute 
paid by the former German correspondent of the Kol- 
nische Zeitung to Mr. Hearst and Mr. Hearst's editor- 
in-chief, Arthur Brisbane, for having been 'auxiliaries of 
valued influence' to Germany, especially because of Hhe 
editorials in the Hearst newspapers.' 

"In The New York Times of August 14, 1917, there 
is a quotation by special cable, via The Hague, from the 
German Vossische Zeitung which states that the 'anti-war 
movement in America is gaining in strength' and that 
'war propagandists in the New York press have lately met 
stout resistance from no other than Mr. Hearst and his 
thirty papers, by the issuance of warnings to the people 
about the danger of plunging into European war/ and 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT S67 

continues to speak of 'the generous nature of the work 
he had done for Germany* and that Mr. Hearst 'preached' 
in behalf of the Central Powers. Mr. Htearst earned the 
praise thus given him by the servants of the Kaiser, and 
during the time when he was earning it the Kaiser was 
saying to Ambassador Gerard, as the latter recites in 
his book: 'America had better look out after this war. 
I shall stand no nonsense from America after the war' — 
which the ambassador reported to the Administration at 
Washington, without, by the way, producing any effect 
upon the Administration. 

"Mr. Brisbane, in The Washington Times, ably fol- 
lowed Mr. Hearst's lead. On August 8, 1917, it said 'the 
most powerful and effective peace worker in this country 
is William Randolph Hearst. The world wants peace. 
It is more important than victory.' On July 16, 1917, 
when Russia was under a democratic government and 
still a fighting ally of the United States against Germany, 
Mr. Brisbane's paper. The W\ashington Times, said: 

" 'Anarchy rules in Russia — somebody must do some- 
thing. The natural somebody is Germany, right next 
door to Russia . . . the civilisation of Western Europe 
may be very grateful to Germany if the war finds Ger- 
many with enough strength left to undertake the main- 
taining of order in Russia — developing the resources there 
and making a few billions of rubles in the process.' 

"It seems literally incredible that a paper making an 
utterance like this could have been left unmolested by an 
Administration that had proceeded against Tom 
Watson — and this paper was published within two blocks 
of the White House. 

"On August 21, 1917, this paper said *We have lent 
to our Allies about two thousand millions . . . this we 
lent our Allies to help in the game of murder.' 

"I commend these facts to Mr. Burleson, and also to 
his Cabinet associate, Mr. Daniels, in view of their re- 
cent telegrams of congratulation to Mr. Brisbane upon 
assuming charge of certain Chicago papers, reported as 
being Hearst papers. These telegrams have been pub- 
lished in one of Mr. Hearst's New York papers. The 



^68 THE NATION AT WAR 

Evening Journal. M!r. Burleson says of Mr. Hearst's, 
alter ego that he 'congratulates' the people of Chicago 
because they are to have the benefit of Mr. Brisbane's 
'able and unselfish efforts ... I indulge the hope that 
(his paper) will always stand for justice and freedom 
and true democratic government' And Mr. Daniels goes 
Mr. Burleson one better in expressing the belief that 
Mr. Brisbane will preach 'patriotism' and 'civic right- 
eousness.' 

"Mr. Burleson has stated that he has received 'more 
complaints' about my writings than about those of Mr.- 
Hearst. In view of Mr. Burleson's record and actions,' 
there is small cause foi wonder in this. Every pro- 
German and anti-American, every believer in a feeble, 
American war and a triumphant German peace, every! 
man who follows Mr. Hearst, would naturally appeal for, 
sympathy to Mr. Burleson in denunciation of what I have 
done. 

"Messrs. Hearst and Brisbane through their papers' 
have been unceasing in their attacks upon England and 
Japan. The New Y^ork American on December 20, 191 7,' 
said that 'the offensive and defensive alliance then ne- 
gotiated between Japan and England was aimed at the 
United States.' This deliberate falsehood was published 
at the very time that England was defending us with her 
fleet and her army. There could be no meaner example 
of treachery to our allies and of subservience to our 
enemy. It was a thousand times more worth the atten- 
tion of Mr. Burleson than anything done by the 
small papers against which the Postoffice Department 
did act. 

"On September 15, 1917, Mr. Hiearst's plea for a Ger- 
man peace in The New York American ran 'the best 
peace for all concerned is a peace without victory, a peace 
without conquest, a peace without indemnities, a peace 
without annexations.' 

"On March 2, 1918, Mr. Hearst made an embittered 
attack upon Japan, and on March 20 he repeated the 
attack. He spoke of the 'military despotism of Japan,' 
of the 'brutal Oriental selfishness in Japan's present atti- 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 269 

lude/ and then asked the question as to who was going 
to drive her from Siberia, answering it: . . • u 

" 'Not the Allies, for they are too much occupied with 
their war. Not the United States, because we are putting 
all our eggs in the Allies' basket. There is one combi- 
nation possible which might drive Japan out of Siberia, 
and that is Russia in an active and aggressive alliance 
with the Teutonic empire.' 

'These sentences amount to incitement to Russia to 
become the military ally and therefore the military vas- 
sal of Germany, and to the effort to persuade our people 
that the war is not our war but only the war of the 
Allies— that it is 'their war.' 

"Such language as this, used less than two months 
before Mr Burleson issued his challenge to me, is a 
thousand times more damaging to the United States than 
anything ever said by Tom Watson or any other of the 
editors of small papers. For Mr. Burleson to allow the 
paper making such an appeal to go unchallenged and yet 
at the same time to permit without rebuke the New York 
postoffice to attack a publication like The Metropolitan, is 
incompatible with the supposition that he was thinking 
only of the welfare of the country. 

*'Mr Hearst's paper actually states that it beheves that 
our government made a great mistake when it did not 
meet both English aggressions and German aggressions 
with armed resistance. This was announced during 
the war; yet at this very time England was protecting 
us from Germany and without that protection we would 
be given no time in which slowly to make ready to pro- 
tect ourselves. If we had begun to prepare in August, 
1914 we would have needed no protection from others. 
But we refused to prepare, and therefore we owe our 
safety now only to the fact that our friends are able 
to fight for us against our enemies while we are slowly 
preparing to fight for ourselves. And Mr. Hearst, under 
these conditions, expresses regret that we did not go to 
war against the friend who fought for us! Such a pro- 
posal is a proposal in the interest of the enemy, who 
murdered our women and children. 



270 THE NATION AT WAR 

"On September 22, 191 7, when the American nation 
still had no troops in the trenches, when we had only 
lent money to the Allies, Mr. Hearst touched the nadir 
of the policy that puts the dollar above the man, when 
he stated that our government has the right and power 
to dictate the terms of peace, and the American people 
expect England and the other allied governments to rec- 
ognise that right and to accept the terms laid down; 
the statement being preceded by the following : 'Having 
practically exhausted the resources of Russia, France 
and Italy, the English government now seeks succor in 
our American resources. The money of the American 
people has been loaned to the Allies in great sums. Still 
greater sums are in readiness to lend them.' Statements 
like this cannot but aid Germany. 

"In all of Mr. Hearst's career it may well be doubted 
whether he has ever proposed anything more sordid than 
this suggestion to the American people, to a free people 
with a glorious past; a people proudly able and willing 
to fight for its honour. The proposal is that we should 
treat having lent money to the Allies as offsetting the 
fact that these Allies had shed the blood of millions of 
their sons in protecting not only themselves but this coun- 
try from the brutal dominion of Germany — a dominion 
under which, if Mr. Hearst's advice had been followed, 
this country would now be cowering. 

"The debt the Allies owe to us for our money is in- 
finitesimal compared to the debt that we owe them for 
the blood shed by their sons on battlefields where this 
nation had as much at stake as the nations whose armies 
fought thereon. 

"On March 8 last Mr. Hearst, preaching hatred to 
Japan and using language tending to serve Germany by 
bringing about a break between the United States and 
Japan, and perhaps Great Britain, says : *If Great Britain 
cannot restrain her special ally Japan from acts of ag- 
gression inimical to our interests, we can remove our 
ships and troops from Europe and transfer them to 
Asia.' This is a threat of war with Japan ; a threat that 
we will enter on a war of aggression in Asia. There 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 271 

could be no possible result of such a threat except service 
to Germany. It was a threat to abandon the war against 
Germany, our enemy, and embark on a war against 
Japan, our ally; and this because Japan, in the interest 
of the Allies and of civilisation, had contemplated action 
in East Siberia against the Bolsheviki, who have shown 
themselves to be the allies of Germany, the enemies of 
civilisation and the enemies of the United States. 

"These quotations show that Mr. Hearst has steadily 
endeavoured to belittle the vital importance to our coun- 
try of this war, and to excite the hatred of our people 
against our Allies who are faithfully fighting beside us; 
and such conduct can be of help only to Germany, to the 
enemy we are fighting. Just so long as Mr. Hearst's 
publications are permitted in the mails, Mr. Burleson is 
without excuse for excluding any other publication from 
them. The Administration, by its acquiescence, permits 
the continuance of Mr. Hearst's campaign, which neces- 
sarily tends to give aid and comfort to Germany and to 
impair the morale of our own people. 

'The quotations above given deprive Mr. Burleson and 
the Administration of which he is part of any shred of 
justification for their action and inaction. Mr. Burleson 
is, of course, only secondarily responsible in the matter. 
Mr. Hearst's papers are so important and Mr. Hearst's 
position among the Administration's political friends, 
supporters and advisers is so prominent, and the action 
in connection with reinstating him in his cable privileges 
was so purely dependent upon the President himself, 
that no subordinate of the President can accept or be 
credited with the chief responsibility for any action or 
inaction of the Administration in relation to Mr. Hearst. 
The Administration is responsible for the toleration of 
Mr. Hearst's anti-Ally, anti-war, and, therefore, anti- 
American activities, and for the reward nevertheless 
given him, and the service rendered on the other side by 
Mr. Hearst was service to the Administration and not 
to the country. 

*T have quoted above the language of complimentary 
endorsement in which two of President Wilson's Cabinet 



272 THE NATION AT WAR 

Ministers have addressed Mr. Hearst's editor, Mr. Bris- 
bane. The President's private secretary writes Mr. Bris- 
bane in the same vein. In the Chicago H\erald and Ex- 
aminer of May 19th, last Sunday, appears the following 
letter, under the heading, *'A New Subscriber" : "The 
White House, Washington, May 14th, 1918. My dear 
Brisbane: When you were at the White House offices 
to-day, I forgot to ask you to send me the Chicago Herald 
and Examiner regularly to my office here. I am sure 
you are going to make the same good Democratic fight 
in Chicago that you have been making in your paper in 
Washington, and I want to see just how you do it. Sin- 
cerely yours, [Signed] J. P. Tumulty, Secretary to the 
President. Mr. Arthur Brisbane, c/o Chicago Herald and 
Exanuiner, Chicago, Illinois." 

"George Harvey has pointed out in the North Ameri- 
can Review's War Weekly that Mr. Burleson is encour- 
aging enemy language publications, by having a special 
division whose function is to assist editors of foreign 
language papers 'in complying with the law.' The Act 
of Congress provides that all foreign language papers 
should submit to censorship or go out of business. The 
Postoffice Department's duty is merely to suppress those 
of them which are guilty of treasonable practices. Ap- 
parently, as Mr. Harvey points out, Mr. Burleson, in- 
stead of suppressing papers that preach sedition, estab- 
lishes a division to show them how they can escape sup- 
pression. 

"Mr. Hearst's papers are infinitely the most important 
of those which during the last year and a quarter have 
tended to serve Germany and have harmed the United 
States by attacking our Allies, or opposing our effective 
participation in the v/ar. There are various other papers 
published in English or German which have been less 
important offenders. 

"On April 2 Professor Guernsey Jones, of the Uni- 
versity of Nebraska, published an article in The Nebraska 
State Journal on 'The Enemy Press.' He quoted various 
articles that have appeared in German-American papers 
since the war, and some of them as late as January, Feb- 



LETTER FROM COLONEL ROOSEVELT 273 

ruary and Mlarch last, championing the German-Ameri- 
can Alliance, attacking England and Japan, announcing 
that *the problem of the German press is to save Deutsch- 
tum in the United States,' demanding a peace which 
would give Germany the victory, praising Germany's ac- 
tion toward Russia, and in other ways, as Professor 
Jones says, showing themselves to be 'insolent organs of 
Prussianism.' 

"These papers were being published, and Mr. Hearst 
was publishing his papers, without interference by the 
Postoffice Department and the government, at the same 
time that proceedings were being taken against The Met- 
ropolitan Magazine, one of the staunchest upholders of 
the war and staunchest opponents of Prussianism in all 
the United States. 

''Congress has with lavish generosity granted all the 
Administration has demanded to carry on the war. It 
has also granted the Administration extraordinary power, 
of a kind never hithertofore granted any Administration, 
to deal with the internal foes of the nation; and this 
power can be^ and has been, misused, to reward the Ad- 
ministration's personal or political supporters and punish 
the Administration's personal or political friends. Con- 
gress — such bodies as the Senate Committee on Military 
Affairs — has exercised its power of investigation and 
supervision to correct executive inefficiency, executive de- 
lay, and executive abuse of power, and has done this in 
such fashion as to speed up and render immensely more 
efficient our part in the war. Congress should vigilantly 
exercise its right of supervision as regards the use of 
all the great powers it has granted the Administration 
over the properties and activities of the citizens of the 
United States. 

"In his last statement about me Mr. Burleson, copying 
the example of Mr. Wegg, the employe of Mr. Boffin, 
dropped into verse. As he seems to like poetry I com- 
mend to him and to his associates the following lines : 

Whoso speaks in your presence must say acceptable things; 
Bowing the head in worship, bending the knee in fear — 
Bringing the word well smoothen, such as a king should hear. 



274 THE NATION AT WAR 

Given to strong delusion, wholly believing a lie, 
Ye saw the land lay fenceless, and ye let the months go by, 
Waiting some easy wonder ; hoping some saving sign — 
Idle — openly idle — in the lee of the forespent Line. 

''Very truly yours, 
(Signed) "Theodore Roosevelt." 



INDEX 



INDEX 



Ade, Geo., i55 „ 
"Administration" vs. * Govern- 
ment," 229 
Admiral Fletcher cited, 33 
Admiral Sims, 174^ 
Advisory Commission, 47 
Alabama cited, 85 
Albuquerque, N. M., 114 
Alexander, Governor, 131 
Alien press, 162 
Alien press, 19 
Aliens, treatment of, i62ff 
Aliens, treatment of, 2i9ff 
Alliance of democracies, 218 
America and England, 213 
America and France, 218 
America enters the war, 19 
American inefficiency, 32 
Americanisation, 163 
Americanisation, 219 
American Journal of Sociol- 
ogy cited, i89ff 
American provincialism, 213 
Americans in France, I97ff 
America to-morrow, 205 
Angell, N., 18 
"Angry- Saxon" story, 63 
Argument against inconclusive 

peace, 239 
Arizona cited, 116 
Arizona cited, 163 
Arkansas cited, 164 
Army, inefficiency in, 33 
Atlanta, Ga., 141 
Atlantic Monthly cited, 96 
Author's intellectual history, 

13 
Author's politics, 29 
Author's resignation, 225 



Baker, N. D., 47 

Baker, N. D., 52 

Baker, N. D., 154 

Baker, N. D., 194 

Baker, N. D., and Hearst, 225 

Baker, N. D., and Hearst, 238 

Baker, N. D., and "Lusitania," 

264 
Baker and Scherer, contrast, 

233 

Baker, N. D., protects Hearst, 
231 

Baker, N. D., replies to 
Scherer, 231 

Bamberger, Governor, 130 

Baruch, B. M., 47, 49 

Baton Rouge, La., 83 

Berlin Lokalanzeiger cited, 234 

Bernstorffs quoted, 40, 41 

Bernhardi cited, 17 

Bethmann-Hollweg, 117 

Bickett, Governor, 74 

Bingham, Utah, 130 

Blease, C. L., 75 

Blease, C L., 183 

Blease, C. L., 2C^ 

Bloomfield, M., 180 

Bohn, F., 239 

Boise, Idaho, 145 

Boise Statesman cited, 133 

Boll-weevil, 85 

Bolo Pacha of American jour- 
nalism, 230 

Booker Washington's story, 

154 
"Boosting," 120 
Boston, Mass., 97 
"Boston Tech" celebration, 30 
Brigham Young, 124 



277 1 



278 



INDEX 



Brisbane, A., 44 
Brisbane, A., 227 
Brisbane, A., 235 
Brisbane, A,, 266 
British Labour Party's Pro- 
gramme, 167 
Brooklyn Eagle cited, 236, 237 
Bryan, E. A., 133 
Buehrmann, Mayor, 80 
Burleson and Hearst, 236 
Burleson and Hearst, 238 
Burleson and Hearst, 250 
Burleson and Roosevelt, 25G 
Business Aid committees, 70 
Butte, Mont., 145 

Cabinet and Hearst, 228 

Cabinet and Hearst, 267 

Cable privileges, Hearst's, 228 

California cited, 104 

California cited, 175 

California cited, 183 

"Calif orniacs," 114, 120 

California-Japanese question, 
186, 226 

Camp Throop, 34flF 

Camp Throop, 42 

Canning in N. C, 70 

Canning in Idaho, 132 

Carolinas, 58 

Carpenter, L. G., 109 

Carrel, A., 168 

Catalina, Cal., 105 

Central West, 150 

Century Magazine cited, 220 

Chamberlain, J., 218 

Chandler, G. B., 104 

Chandler, G. B., 108 

Chandler, G. B., 112 

Charleston, S. C, 77 

Chenard, M. J., 249 

Cheradame, A., 96 

Chicago, 111., 153 

Chicago, 111., 159 

Chicago, III, 226 

Chicago Herald and Exam- 
iner cited, 272 

Christ cited, 207 

Cities, charm of, 76 

Clarkson, G. B., 47 



Coffin, H. E., 47 
Colby College, 189 
Collier's Weekly cited, 90 
Collier's Weekly cited, 257 
Cologne Volksseitung cited, 

227 
Colorado cited, I09ff 
Colorado Springs, Col., no 
Commencement address, 30 
Commercial Economy Board, 

49 
Committees of Public Safety, 

60 
Commonwealth Club, 175 
Community Councils, 51 
Community Councils, 96 
Congress criticised, 206 
Connecticut cited, 89ff 
Connecticut cited, 136 
Connecticut cited, 150 
Conservation of resources, 32 
Constitution cited, 229 
Constitution cited, 254 
Constructive criticism, 251 
Constructive criticism, 206 
Corcoran, J. A., 259 
Corn, 152 
"Cotton as a World Power," 

61 
"Cotton as a World Power," 

69 
Council of National Defense 

described, 47ff 
Creel, G., 207 
Creel, G., 219 
Creel, G., 253ff 
Creelman, J., 226 
Cromer, G. B., 72 
Cromwell cited, 155 

Daniels, J., 47 

Daniels, J., and Hearst, 267 

Davenport hotel, 122 

Day, H. L., 135 

Declaration of Lutherans, 22ff 

Delaware cited, 60 

Delaware cited, 160 

Democracies, alliance of, 218 

Democracies, inefficient, 34 

Denman, W., 181 



INDEX 



279 



Denver, Col., 109 

Des Moines, Iowa, 161 

Dietz, L. C, 262 

Disillusionment of author, 15 

Disque, Capt., 144 

District of Columbia cited, 163 

Dodson, W. R., 81 

Dorsey, Governor, 85 

*'Down South," s8ff 

Doyle, Governor, 120 

Draft Act, 42 

Economic argument against in- 
conclusive peace, 239 

Edgar, G., 171 

Editors, George Ade on, 157 

Efficiency and Idealism, 3off 

Efficiency in army, 33 

Ellerbe, C, 81 

Emergency Fleet Corporation, 
108 

Emergency Fleet Corporation, 
180 

Emergency Fleet Corporation, 
231 

Emperor of Germany quoted, 
210 

Employment service, 87 

England and America, 2i3ff 

English and aliens, 163 

English and aliens, 219 

Englishwomen in War indus- 
try, 90 

Examiner, Los Angeles, cited, 
118 

Examiner, Los Angeles, cited, 
226 

Examiner, Los Angeles, cited, 
233 . 

Examiner, Los Angeles, cited, 
236 

Examiner, Los Angeles, ex- 
posed, 243 

Exchanges, labour, 87 

^'Extra-legal treatment," 121 

*Tarm Plattsburgs," 163 
Ferncroft, Mass., 104 
Flag of America in France, 201 
Flag of France story, 201 



Fletcher, Admiral, cited, 33 
Florida cited, 164 
Food administration, 50 
Food administration, 59 
Ford, G. S., 97 
Ford, G. S., 104 
Ford, G. S., 108 
Fore River, Mass., 88 
Foreign language press, 19 
Foreign language press, 162 
"Four Princes," 14 
Fox City, Cal., 104 
France and America, 197 
France and America, 218 
France, mortality in, 201 
Freedom of seas, 39 
Freedom of speech, 206 
Freedom of speech, 2256? 
Freedom of speech, 251 
French devotion, 201 
French women, 201 
Fuel administration, 50 

Garfield, J. R., 19 

Gastinel, O., 197 

George Ade, I55ff 

George III, 13 

Georgia cited, 85 

General Council of Lutherans, 

22ff 

General Medical Board, 50 
General Munitions Board, 48 
German-American press, 19 
German-American press, 162 
Germania Herold cited, 162 
German ideals, 2ioff 
German language press, 19 
German language press, 162 
German Reformation, 14 
Germany, influence on the 

writer, 13 
Gifford, W. S., 47 
Gifford, W. S., 51 
Gifford, W. S., 103 
Gifford, W. S., 225ff 
Godfrey, H., 47 
Goethals, G. W., 181 
Gompers, S., 47 
Gompers, S., 49 
Goodrich, Governor, 155 



280 



INDEX 



"Government vs. Administra- 
tion," 229 
Governor Alexander, 131 
Governor Bamberger, 130 
Governor Bickett, 74 
Governor Dorsey, 85 
Governor Doyle, 120 
Governor Gunter, logfi 
Governor Goodrich, 155 
Governor Holcomb, 94 
Governor Manning, 75 
Governor Pleasant, 82 
Governors of Carolinas, 73 
Governor Stewart, 145 
Gronna, Senator, 208 
Gulls and Utah, 127 
Gunter, Governor, I09ff 

Hale, G. E., 51 

Hale, G. E., 167 

Hamburger Nachrichten cited, 

233 
Hammond, Mrs., 83 
Hardwick, Senator, 85 
Hardwick, Senator, 208 
Harms, Mayor, 107 
Harris, G. W., 260 
Hartford, Conn., 89ff 
Hartford, Conn., 203 
Hartford Times cited, 103 
Harvey, G., 272 
Haynes, J., 105 
Hays, W. H., 155, 156 
Haywood, "Big Bill," in 
Health statistics, 32 
Healy, Dean, 36 
Hearst and Baker, 231 
Hearst and Japan, 118 
Hearst and Japan, 247 
Hearst and Japan, 268ff 
Hearst and the President, 228 
Hearst papers, 123 
Hearst papers, 207 
Hearst papers, 225ff 
Hearst papers and Sierra 

Madre Club, 243 
Hearst papers and Sedition 

Act, 29 
Hearst's motives, 230 
Helena, Mont., 139 



Helena, Mont., 145 
Henderson, A., 222 
Hendrick, B. J., 90 . 
Herald and Examiner cited, 

272 
Hessians, 13 
Holcomb, Governor, 94 
Hollweg-Bethmann-, 117 
Hoover, H., 50 
Hoover, H., 59 
Hotels criticised, 123 
Housing, 163 
Houston, D. P., 47 
Hughes, J. L., 36 
Hughes, C. E., 150 
Hurley, E. N., 181 

Idaho cited, I3iff 
Idealism of Americans, 3ofF 
Illinois cited, 153 
Illinois cited, 159 
Illinois cited, 164 
Illinois cited, 226 
I. W. W., 142 
I. W. W., 145, 147 
Inconclusive peace, 226 
Inconclusive peace, 239 
Independence in politics, 29 
Independent cited, 257 
Indiana cited, I55ff 
"Industrial Plattsburgs," 88 
Inefficiency, American, 32ff 
"Intelligensia," 207 
International News Service, 

235 
Iowa cited, 161 

Jackson, Editor, cited, 228 
Jackson, Miss., 64 
Jacobs, H. E., 222 
Japan, California and, 226 
"Japanese Crisis," 226 
Japan, Hearst and, 118 
Japan, Hearst and, 226 
Japan, Hearst and, 247flF 
Japan, Hearst and, 268ff 
Joan of Arc story, 196 
Joffre, Marshal, 46 
Johnson, Senator, 186 
Jones, G., 272 



INDEX 



281 



Juman, Mrs., 85 

Kaiser Wilhelm quoted, 210 

Kansas cited, 160 

Kansas City Star cited, 250 

Kellogg, F. W., 228 

Kent, Sir S., 89 

Kentucky cited, 159 

Kitchin, C, 183 

Knights of Columbus, 137 

Kultur vs. culture, 15 

Labour exchanges, 87 
Labour in the War, 49 
Labour in the War, 87ff 
Labour in the War, no 
Labour in the War, 221 
Labour Party in England, 167 
La Follette, Senator, 208 
Lane, F. K., 45, 47 
Lane, F. K., 160 
Lawson, J., in 
Lever, A. F., 183 
Liaison officers, 59 
Liaison officers, 166 
Lincoln on loyalty, 29 ^ 
Lincoln on Trent Affair, 40 
Lincoln quoted, 205 
Lippmann, W., 208 
Literary Digest cited, 19, 20 
Lloyd George, D., 181 
Logan, Utah, 127 
Louisiana cited, 81 ff 
Louisiana cited, 149 
Louisville, Ky., 159 
Lorraine story, 196 
Los Angeles, Cal., 104 
Los Angeles Examiner cited, 

118 
Los Angeles Examiner cited, 

226 
Los Angeles Examiner cited, 

Los Angeles Examiner cited, 
236 

Los Angeles Examiner ex- 
posed, 243 

Los Angeles Times cited, 117 

Los Angeles Times cited, 226 

Loyalty League, 144 

Loyalty, Lincoln on, 29 



Loyalty of Lutherans, 20 
Loyalty of Lutherans, 216, 223 
Lumbermen, 144 
Lusitania incident, 27 
Lusitania incident, 41 
Lusitania incident, 264 
Lutheranism in Germany, 14 
Lutheran loyalty, 20 
Lutherans, loyalty of, 223 



Magruder, A. C, no 
Maine cited, 97 
Major Moton cited, 63 
Manning, Governor, 75 
Mansur, E. M., 258 
Markham, E., 36 
Martin, R, 47 
Maryland cited, 164 
Massachusetts cited, 88fF 
Massachusetts cited, 98ff 
Massachusetts cited, 150 
Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology, 30 
Mather, Sir Wm., 28 
"Mayflower," 38 
Mayor Buehrmann, 80 
Mayor Harms, 107 
Mayor of Summit, N. J., 263 
Mayor of Mt. Vernon, 263 
McAdoo, W. G., 115 
McClellan Statue, 126 
McKibben, F. P., 180 
McKinnon, Jane, 70 
Melting-pot, 220 
Merriam, J. C, I75 . 
Metropolitan Magazine cited, 

253 
Michigan cited, 160 
Ministerium of Pennsylvania, 

24ff 

Minnesota cited, 136 
Minnesota cited, 162 
Missouri cited, 135 
Missouri cited, 152 
Mississippi cited, 65 
Mississippi cited, 83 
Montana cited, 139 
Monterey training camp, 28 
Montgomery, Ala., 85 



S82 



INDEX 



Mormon organisation, 112 
Mormon patriotism, 128 
Mormon woman's letter, 131 
Mortality in France, 201 
Moton, Major, 63 
Motoring in New England, 104 
Mount Vernon, 45 
Mount Vernon, N. Y., 263 
Muhlenberg, J. P. G., 13 
Munitions Board, 48 



Napoleon and America, 39 
National Academy of Sciences, 

167 
National Research Council, 51 
National Research Council, 166 
Nebraska cited, 107 
Nebraska State Journal cited, 

272 
Negroes in the War, 636? 
Negro letter, 64 
Neutrality, President on, 27 
Nevada cited, 120 
Nevada sheriff's letter, 121 
New England, ^7 
New England, 150 
"New Freedom" cited, 205 
New Hampshire cited, 98, IQ2 
New Jersey cited, 164 
Newlin, G., 107 
New Mexico cited, 114 
New Orleans, La., 76 
Newport News, Va., 88 
New Republic cited, 76 
New Republic cited, 208 
New Republic cited, 257 
New York cited, 164 
New York American cited, 227 
New York American cited, 233 
New York American cited, 

262ff 

New York Evening Journal 

cited, 235 
New York Herald cited, 262 
New York News cited, 260 
New York Times cited, 19 
New York Times cited, 225ff 
New York Times cited, 239 
New York Times cited, 263 



New York Times cited, 265 
New York Tribune cited, 182 
New York Tribune cited, 228 
New York Tribune cited, 231 
New York Tribune cited, 233 
New York Tribune cited, 257 
New York Tribune cited, 265 
New York World cited, 263 
Nicholson, M., 155 
North American Review's War 

Weekly cited, 181 
North American Review's War 

Weekly cited, 272 
North Carolina cited, 62 
North Carolina cited, 70 
North Dakota cited, 164 

O'Connor, T. P., 194 
Oath, 58 
Oath, 229 
Ohio cited, 164 
Oklahoma cited, 160 
Omar Khayyam, 35 
Oregon cited, 143 
Oregon cited, 149 
Oregon Journal cited, 228 
"Out West," 107 
Overman, Senator, 62 

Pacifism, i8ff 
Palouse, Idaho, 136 
Pan-Germany, 96 
Pan-Germany, 227 
Pan- Germany, 239 
Parker, J. M., 8iff 
Partisanship, 29 
Pasadena, Cal., 19, 42 
Pasadena, Cal., yy 
Pasadena, Cal., 117 
Pasteur and Lister, 169 
Pastorius quoted, 215 
Peace, danger of premature, 

227 
Peace, danger of premature, 

239 
Pennsylvania cited, 160 
Pennsylvania cited, 163 
Pennsylvania Dutch, 216 
Pennsylvania Ministerium, 24ff 
Perigord, P. H., 104 



INDEX 



283 



Perigord, P. H., 137 
Perigord, P. H., 14S 
Perigord, P. H., 189 
Pershing story, 200 
Personalities, i83ff 
Phelps, H., 83 
Pilgrims' sailing, 38 
"Plattsburgs, farm," 163 
"Plattsburgs, industrial," 88 
Pleasant, Governor, 82 
Plymouth, 37 
Poindexter, Senator, letter to, 

250 
Politics, author's, 29 
Portland, Ore., 105 
Portland, Ore., 141 
Portland, Ore., 228 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 262 
President Wilson and HoU- 

weg, 117 
President Wilson and Hearst, 

228 
President Wilson cited, 66 
President Wilson cited, 71 
President Wilson cited, 205 
President Wilson on State 

Councils, 56 
Presidio, 34ff 
Presidio, 42 
Provincialism, 213 
Prussian ideals, 2ioflF 
Public, The, cited, 261 
Publicity in Conn., 95 
Public opinion 205ff 
Public opinion, 251 
Public Service Reserve, 92 

Race problem and the Waf, 

65ff 
Race problem and the War, 

Railway administration, 50 
Reardon, E. I., 66 
Reed, Senator, 208 
Religion and the War, 155 
Religion and the War, 221 
Reno, Nev., 120 
Reno, Nev., 145 
Research Council, 51 
Research Council, 166 



Resignation, 225 
Rhode Island cited, 98 
Roosevelt, F. D., 181 
Roosevelt, T., criticised, 228 
Roosevelt, T., letter of, 250 
Roosevelt's reply to Burleson, 

250 
Root, E., 206 
Rosenwald, J., 47 
"Ruggles of Red Gap," 122 
Russia, Brisbane on, 235, 267 
Ryan, J. D., 148 

Sacramento, Cal., 120 
Sacramento, Cal., 145 
Salem, Mass., 103 
Salt Lake City, 122 
San Francisco, Cal., 77 
San Francisco Call, cited, 228 
Saw-mills for England, 98 
Scherer, P. A., 117 
Scherer, P. A., 180 
Scherer, J. A. B., cited, 226 
Scherer, J. A. B., cited, 61 
Scherer, J. A. B., cited, 69 
Schmauk, T. E., 24 
Schwab, C. M., 181 
Science and the War, l67ff 
Science and the War, 221 
Scott, F. A., 48 

Scribner's Magazine cited, 16S 
Seattle, Wash., I42ff 
Sedition Act, 29 
Sedition Act, 2ZZ 
Senator Gronna, 208 
Senator Hardwick, 85 
Senator Hardwick, 208 
Senator Johnson, 186 
Senator La Follette, 208 
Senator Overman, 62 
Senator Poindexter, 250 
Senator Reed, 208 
Senator Vardaman, 84 
Senator Vardaman, 208 
Senator Williams, 84 
Shakespeare quoted, 213 
Shaw, A. H., 49 
Shaw, A. W., 49 
Shipbuilding, 182 
Shipping Board, 179 



^84 



INDEX 



Shipping Board, 231 
Sierra Madre Club, 243 
Sims, Admiral, 174 
Singmaster, E., 215 
Sinn Fein, 145 
Slacker slogans, 161 
Slogans for slackers, 161 
Small, A. W., iSpff 
Smith, R., 160 
Smyth, N. A., 93 
Socialism, 165 
South Carolina cited, d^ 
South Carolina cited, 183 
South Dakota cited, 164 
Southern California, 104 
Southern California, 119 
Sphagnum moss, 143 
Spokane, Wash., I22ff 
Spokane, Wash., 142 
Springfield, Mo., 152 
Spring-Rice, C, 100 
Spy-imaginary, 62 
Spy-imaginary, 107 
Spy's imaginary letter, 149 
State Councils and the Presi- 
dent, 56 
State Councils, beginning of, 

51 
State Councils described, 52ff 
State Councils described, 59 
State Socialism, 165 
Statistics of health, etc., Z'^^ 
Stewart, Governor, 145 
Stratton, S. W., 171 
Street, J., ^z 
Street, J., 'jy 
Street, J., 124 
Summit, N. J., 263 
"Sumter County Plan," 66ff 
Suzzallo, H., I42ff 
Swords of Washington, 46 
System magazine, 49 

Talleyrand cited, 205 
Taylor, H. W. J., 145 
Tennessee cited, i6g 
Texas cited, 116 
Texas cited, 164 
Thornton, W. C, iii 
Throop College, 19 



Throop College, 28ff 

Throop College, address at, 

30ff 
Throop College in the War, 43 
Tillman, B. R., 184 
Times, Los Angeles, 117 
Treitschke citedj 17 
Trent Affair, 40 
Trowbridge, J. T., 103 
Tulsa, Okla., 160 
Tumulty, J. P., and Brisbane, 

235 
Tumulty, J. P., and Brisbane^ 
272 

Universal City, Cal., 104 
University of California, 178 
University of Utah, 126 
University of Washington, 142 
"Up North," 87 
Utah cited, I24ff 

Vardaman, Senator, 84 
Vardaman, Senator, 208 
Verdun, Perigord at, 193 
Vermont cited, 88 
Vermont cited, 98 
Vimy Ridge, 139 
Vimy Ridge, Perigord at, 194 
Virginia cited, 164 
Vossische Zeitung cited, 266 

War Employment Service, 87 
War Industries Board, 49 
War Labor Policy Board, 91 
War of 1812, 39 
Washington cited, 136, 141 
Washington cited, 149 
Washington City, first impres- 
sions, 44 
Washington Post cited, 66 
Washington's swords, 46 
Washington Times cited, 44 
Washington Times cited, 227 
Washington Times cited, 235 
Washington Times cited, 267 
Washington Star cited, 118 
Water in hotels, 123 
Watson, Tom, 85 



INDEX 



285 



Watson, Tom, 256ff 
Watters, H. J., i6i 
Webb, R H., 243 
Weiser, Conrad, 215 
Welch, W. H., 168 
Westberry, R. W., (£ 
West Virginia cited, 159 
Wheat in Utah, 128 
Whitman, W., 222 
Wickham, C H., 105 
Wilkes, Capt., 40 
Willard, D, 47 
Williams, Senator, 84 
Wilson, H. D., 81 
Wilson, H. L., 122 
Wilson, President, cited, ^ 
Wilson, President, cited, 71 
Wilson, President, cited, 205 
Wilson, President, on State 
Councils, 56 



Wilson, President, on Neutral- 
ity, 27 

Wilson, President, and Hearst, 
228 

Wilson, President, and Holl- 
weg, 117 

Wilson, W. B., 47 

Winterbotham, J. H., Jr., 160 

Wisconsin cited, 136 

Wisconsin cited, 162 

Women in War industries, 90 

Young, B., I24flf 
Young, Lafe, 161 
Young, L. E., 125, 128 
Youth's Companion cited, 102 
Yser story, 197 

Zigzag journeys, 152 
Zimmermann letter, 116 



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